I Suddenly Wanted Gan-Jjajang… So I Put Truffle Oil in It

JAY PICK · A LITTLE PIECE OF KOREAN LIFE

Sometimes I plan what I'm going to eat.

And sometimes one thought suddenly appears in my head and refuses to leave.

That day, it was:

“I want gan-jjajang.”

So naturally, instead of ordering it like a normal person, I decided to make it myself.

This was probably where the trouble started. 😂

Jjajangmyeon Is Very Normal Food in Korea

Jjajangmyeon and jjampong are both incredibly familiar foods in Korea.

They're the kind of things people order for lunch, dinner, at work, with family, when nobody feels like cooking...

Basically, you don't need a special reason.

But jjajangmyeon lives or dies by one important ingredient:

chunjang, the dark fermented bean paste used to make the sauce.

You can have good noodles and expensive meat, but if the sauce isn't right, the whole thing feels wrong.

And because apparently I wasn't interested in making a completely normal version, I decided to experiment.

My Version: Pork, Onion… and Truffle Oil

I started with fresh pork and plenty of onion.

Then I stir-fried them with chunjang.

So far, fairly normal.

Then came the part that probably makes some traditionalists nervous:

truffle oil.

Yes.

Truffle oil in gan-jjajang. 😂

I wasn't trying to faithfully copy my neighborhood Chinese restaurant. I wanted to see what would happen if I made my own version.

Pork.

Lots of onions.

Chunjang.

A little truffle aroma.

Freshly boiled noodles.

And somehow...

it worked ridiculously well.

The onions became sweet, the pork gave the sauce richness, and the truffle oil added this slightly luxurious smell that absolutely did not belong in my original childhood idea of jjajangmyeon.

But I didn't care.

It tasted amazing.

Then I Started Getting Ideas

That should have been the end of the experiment.

It wasn't.

Later, I tried replacing the pork with pieces of beef steak.

Salchisal — a richly marbled beef cut.

Then galbisal, beef rib meat.

And that worked too.

At some point I realized I was no longer really asking:

“Is this authentic gan-jjajang?”

I was asking:

“What else can I put in this?”

Which is a much more dangerous question. 😂

And then I ate it with kimchi.

That combination?

Seriously good.

Rich black bean sauce, fatty beef, chewy noodles, then the sour-spicy crunch of kimchi between bites.

That one I would make again without hesitation.

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And Then There's Moving-Day Jjajangmyeon

The last photo reminded me of something completely different.

The day I moved into a new home.

There's a very familiar image in Korea connected with moving day:

Boxes everywhere.

Furniture still not in the right place.

Nobody knows where the plates are.

Everyone is exhausted.

And somewhere in the middle of all that chaos...

jjajangmyeon arrives.

When I was younger, the classic image was people sitting on the floor, sometimes with newspaper or something laid underneath, opening containers of jjajangmyeon together.

Nothing fancy.

Just hungry people surrounded by moving stuff.

So when I look at this photo, that's immediately what I remember.

Why Jjajangmyeon Works So Well on a Moving Day

Mostly because it's easy.

Your kitchen isn't ready.

Cooking is the last thing anyone wants to do.

And Korea has a deeply established delivery culture.

Jjajangmyeon has been one of the classic delivery foods for a very long time.

Today, restaurants often package the noodles and sauce separately or use other methods to help them survive the trip better.

Of course, delivery quality depends on the restaurant and distance.

But when you have a good place nearby?

The noodles arrive warm, you pour over the sauce, mix everything together, grab some yellow danmuji on the side...

and lunch is solved.

No cooking.

Very few dishes.

Exactly what you want after carrying boxes all morning.

[Seafood jjajangmyeon topped with clams, mussels and scallops in a rich black bean sauce]

Koreans Can Be Weirdly Loyal to Their Jjajangmyeon Place

Another thing about jjajangmyeon and jjampong is that the difference between restaurants can be huge.

The sauce can be sweeter.

More savory.

More oily.

The onions can be almost raw and crunchy or cooked until very soft.

The noodles vary.

The jjampong broth can completely change from one restaurant to another.

So once people find a Chinese restaurant they like, they often keep going back to the same place.

I'm like that too.

When you already know which shop gets your jjajangmyeon right, why gamble with dinner? 😂

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Homemade or Delivery?

My homemade version:

Fresh pork.
Lots of onion.
Truffle oil.
Later, steak.
Kimchi on the side.

Completely unnecessary experimentation.

Also delicious.

Moving-day delivery version:

Open container.

Pour sauce.

Mix.

Eat.

No cutting board.

No frying pan.

No greasy wok waiting in the sink.

That is also very beautiful in its own way.

So which is better?

If I'm in the mood to cook, I'll happily make my slightly ridiculous JAY-style gan-jjajang again.

But if I've just moved house?

Bring me the delivery menu.

I'm not washing a wok after carrying furniture all day.

— JAY