Zha Ziang Mian (Chinese Spaghetti)
Zha ziang mian, aka Chinese spaghetti, is one of Hungry Bear's favorite comfort dishes. It has everything she likes... sweet, salty, spicy and carbs! The rich meaty sauce is nicely contrasted by the cool refreshing vegetable garnish.
It's a popular item in Northern China and legend has it that Marco Polo got his inspiration for Italian spaghetti after spending time in China. Growing up, Hungry Bear often had this dish served with regular spaghetti noodles, but it's best served with Chinese noodles. We included a photo of the brand we like in the slideshow.
The ingredient list looks long, but it's actual quite easy to make. So the next time you want some spaghetti and meat sauce, give this Chinese version a try.
Zha Ziang Mian Recipe
- 3 tablespoons bean sauce
- 5 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce (optional)
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
- 2 pounds ground pork
- 3 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
- 2 tablespoons ginger, minced
- 3 tablespoons green onions, minced
- 1 pound Chinese noodles
- 1/2 English cucumber, julienned
- 2 carrots, julienned
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- In a small bowl, whisk together the bean, hoisin, chili garlic and soy sauces; reserve and set aside.
- Heat a large wok over high heat. Add the oil and swirl to coat. Toss in the garlic and ginger; cook until it's fragrant about 10-15 seconds. Add the pork, stir constantly to break apart meat. Cook until just a bit of pink remains and it begins to brown, about 4-5 minutes. Add the wine and stir for a few seconds.
- Pour in the reserved sauce and stir to thoroughly coat the pork, until sauce is heated through. Add the green onions and toss to combine well. Serve pork over noodles and garnish with cucumber, carrots and bean sprouts.
Makes 6 servings
[Adapted from The Seventh Daughter by Cecilia Chiang]
Oh YUM!!!! I love this dish! Every time I ask my parents for the recipe they’re all, “which one?” and then they make it IMPOSSIBLE to decipher what to add and what not to add (besides, they don’t even agree with each other on how to make it). Yay - now I can try it from a source I trust :) Thanks guys!
This dish really brings back some memories. I like the noodles dry like this, not over-sauced like the Korean style.
WOW - I’m so craving this now. In Singapore, where I’m from, there are many Chinese restaurants that serve this so your droolicious photos are bringing back lovely memories tucking into this and xiao long paos with my besties.
I love this! I make an almost identical dish with ground turkey instead of the pork. There is nothing better than meat sauce and noodles.
yum. please send some asap. also, your photos are so dang clear! who knew you were so multi-talented…
Oh yummy looking. I’ve been trying to plan some meals for around Chinese New Year and this has to go on the list.
Looks great. Thanks for the photo of the noodle brand - very helpful!
i make this all the time..but i add the following:
finely diced onions
finely diced shitake mushrooms
finely diced dried shrimp
and i only use sweet bean sauce. it comes in a blue can.
i also mix in a bit of the water that was used to soak the dried shitakes.
in my house we eat it with blanched sprouts and julienned cucumbers.
this is soooo amazing with fresh chinese noodles.
now im craving it!!! =D
I love this dish and called it chinese spaghetti as a kid too. I also like to add a few shelled edamame to the dish for some veggies and color. Yours looks delicious!
This looks so very appetizing and hungry bear….is also a Greek saying…”a hungry bear can’t dance”!
Must make this dish soon. All the ingredients are very common, yet the dish looks so good!
A large bowl of this Chinese spaghetti sounds very “comforting” to a passionate eater (as well as a hungry bear)!
This looks delicious but I am a little new to Chinese cooking. I have all of the ingredients except the wine. . . is there anything I can substitute? Regular red wine? i would love to know!
Hi Brenda, per this article a pale dry sherry would be a good substitute…
shaoxing wine substitute