Lazy Bean Paste Noodles

When I was in middle school, I once tried to bake vanilla cupcakes at home. Being the noob that I was at the time, I had forgotten to add baking powder and thought it would be ok to put cake batter into cupcake liners without putting those liners into a cupcake pan. How embarrassing ermahgerd. Needless to say, things did not work out. The batter splattered all over the baking sheet. When I saw the sorry mess that spilled all over my baking sheets, I took them out, gave up, and put them in the sink. My mom, who wanted nothing more than for me to focus on practicing piano rather than injuring my hands in the kitchen, shooed me out so she could wash the hot mess for me. A few minutes later, as I was organizing my music on the stand, I heard "Mm yummy!" It turned out that mom had picked off some pieces of the batter that had spread all over the pan and eaten them. She thought they tasted like Pepperidge Farm's Milano Cookies. After that, we realized that if we used the same recipe, but spooned the batter onto a baking pan, baked the cookies, and dipped them in melted chocolate, we would have mom's favorite cookies!

Seriously, sometimes the best creations are conjured up by accident! Such was absolutely the case with these lazy bean paste noodles that we will be talking about today.

My homie g Rachel and I have been having a hard time getting onto each other's schedules this year since we both have been busy with work and various personal projects. We finally were able to find a time to meet up after 5 months of constant texting and rescheduling. When we finally decided we would meet up on Friday, I promised her I would make her black bean paste noodles, since that's the kind of Chinese Korean food her family would only get to eat when they ate out.

Rachel arrived and lo and behold- I had EVERYTHING stocked except for the chunjang (black bean paste). Homie was super chill about it- so I offered to make use the same ingredients and just throw everything together with some DOENJANG. Umm what now?

Yes, doenjang. Doenjang as in soybean paste. The kind you put in doenjang jigae or use as a super strong substitute for miso. It actually turned out quite well! Without further ado, please welcome our recipe for Lazy Bean Paste Noodles- a recipe for when you are too lazy to go out for the right fermented bean paste and use whatever bean paste you have on hand. Yes, any bean paste will work in this recipe.

First, a slab of pork belly is placed in the freezer to firm up. Then, the pork is thinly sliced and "cured" overnight with salt and sugar. The next day, the pork belly is cooked on low heat to render the pork fat and caramelize. The aromatics are then browned before the vegetables are added along with a simple dashi stock. Lastly, the doenjang and pork belly are added back to the pot and simmered until thick and delicious. The sauce is then served over a bundle (or two) of fresh noodles. How can anyone not be down to slurp up this rich, savory dish?

The cast

Pork belly getting seared..oink oink

Bonito flakes hanging out in our kombu water. After 20 minutes, this is gonna be dashi!

Look at those edges turning brown. They're going to have to keep browning for maximum deliciousness.

After the zucchini and potatoes are added, we're going to have to let them hang out some more because hanging out= browned edges. Browned edges= mmm this is gonna be sexay!

Add the dashi and doenjang to the sautéed vegetables. Hey, dashi and doenjang make a great couple! This could be the start of a doenjang jigae recipe!

While waiting for the sauce to reduce and thicken, boil the noodles

Savory, umami packed sauciness..mmm

The Recipe

2 potatoes

1 zucchini

1/2 pound pork belly

1 tablespoon salt

20 turns black pepper

1 tablespoon rice wine (michiu)

2 teaspoons white granulated sugar

4 cloves garlic

1/2 onion

3 tablespoons doenjang

1 piece kombu

1 small packet bonito flakes

4 bunches of knife cut noodles

1. The evening before, thinly slice the pork belly. It will be easier to do this if you first let the pork belly chill in a freezer for 3 hours. 

2. After slicing, briefly "cure" the pork belly overnight with the rice wine, sugar, salt, and black pepper.

3. The next day, start off by cubing the zucchini, potatoes, and onion.

4. Add the kombu to 3 cups of cold water and place over stove. Once the water starts bubbling, but has not yet reached a full boil, remove the kombu and add the packet of bonito flakes. Turn off the heat and put a lid over the pot for 20 minutes.

5. Place the pork belly into a pan over low heat and let the pork fat render slowly. This should take about 15-20 minutes. When the fat has started to release, turn up the heat to allow the pork belly to brown in its own fat. Then, remove from the pan and set aside.

6. Place the diced onion into the rendered pork fat. If the rendered fat is not enough, you can add a tablespoon of oil. Cook until the onions are nice and browned at the edges. Mix it around for a few more minutes until further caramelized.

7. Add minced garlic and cook for one minute.

8. Add zucchini and potatoes and saute with the rest of the onion mixture for 3 minutes until the zucchini and potatoes start to brown as well.

9. Strain the bonito flakes out of the dashi and reserve 1/2 cup to thin out doenjang. Pour the rest into the pan.

10. Use the reserve 1/2 cup of dashi to thin out the doenjang.

11. Once the pan contents come to a boil, add the thinned out doenjang and pork belly. When it comes back up to a boil, lower to medium heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

12. While the sauce is simmering, cook Korean knife noodles in a pot of water for 4 minutes. Strain and set aside.

13. After 20 minutes of simmering, turn the heat back up on high for 2 minutes to further thicken the sauce.

14. Place noodles in a bowl and top with 1/2 cup of sauce. If you want, you can top the bowls with julienned cucumber slices. I'm not generally a cucumber fan, so I would eat the noodles just like that.

I have a habit of trying out my sauces straight from the pan. I generally like my sauces to be slightly saltier so that they balance out when paired with unflavored noodles. If you try a spoonful of this sauce straight from the pan, it will be too salty, so make sure you serve this over noodles or if you're a rice person, over a bed of piping hot rice.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did- Cheers!

XOXO,

The Bustling Cook