ANATOMY OF A DISH

All noodles are good noodles, but this particular bowl is extra special.

Zhajiang mian.

Awarm bowl of al dente noodles smothered in a rich sauce – what’s not to love? Chef and food writer Tony Tan refers to the dish, which has origins in Shandong province, as “Beijing noodles with Chinese Bolognese sauce,” but the literal translation is “fried sauce noodles”. Zhajiang, a soybean paste, is the typical base for said fried sauce – the most commonly seen uses sweet fermented yellow soy beans – and the end product is thick, rich and full of flavour. Variations abound, however; ketchup is common in the Hong Kong version, for example. Whatever your flavour, stir it all up and slurp away.