The Wet Noodle
What rice are they eating in It's Okay to Not Be Okay?
Rice is a staple in many countries, serving as the backbone to many dishes around the world. But what rice do they eat in Kdramas?
One Dollar Lawyer is a South Korean television series about an unusual lawyer, Cheon Ji-hun (Namkoong Min), who only charges ₩1,000 won (about $1 U.S. dollar) for his services. His flashy appearance and personal quirks set him apart from the stuffy, uptight world of professional law practice. Yet he is one of the most skilled lawyers around, rumored to have never lost a case.
The show follows Cheon Ji-hun accepting cases from lower class clients who cannot afford the expensive lawyers of large law firms. He does this with the help of an assistant, Sa Mu-Jang (Park Jin-Woo), and a new probation employee, Baek Ma-Ri (Kim Ji-Eun). With its novel script writing and excellent performances, One Dollar Lawyer is sure to become everyone’s new favorite Kdrama to watch.
The food shown in the series is great too! In one of the first scenes of the show, Cheon Ji-hun and his assistant are seen ordering take-out noodles while waiting for a shady client to show up. The noodles are topped with a dark sauce that they stir into the noodles with their chopsticks.
It’s easily apparent that Ji-hun is very fond of these noodles and slurps them down heartily until Baek Ma-Ri interrupts his meal by flipping his bowl over. The noodles are known as jjajangmyeon (짜장면).
What is Jjajangmyeon?
Jjajangmyeon is a a popular Chinese-Korean dish served with a savory and delicately sweetened black bean sauce. The word jjajang (짜장) is actually derived from the Chinese word zhájiàng (炸酱), meaning “fried sauce”, and myeon (면), meaning “noodles”. So we see the characters in One Dollar Lawyer ordering fried sauce noodles.
The noodles are the typical thick noodles made from wheat flour, salt, oil, and water. The sauce is created from fermented black bean paste, soy sauce, and sometimes pork, beef, or seafood, ginger, garlic, onions, zucchini, cucumber, cabbage, and other vegetables.
Jjajangmyeon noodles being delivered in One Dollar Lawyer
Jjajangmyeon was originally created by Chinese-Korean migrant workers during the late 19th-century and grew into a popular and cheap meal that could be delivered quickly by the use of delivery motorcycles in Seoul and other large cities in Korea. Slight variations were made to the Chinese recipe to accommodate trending Korean tastes and local ingredients.
Variations to the menu item might include a dry sauce instead of wet sauce, ground meat, squid or mussel, or even served with rice instead of noodles. Though, if the noodles are replaced with rice the dish is called jjajangbap (짜장밥). The “bap” means rice.
Side dishes commonly served with jjajangmyeon include pickled daikon radish, kimchi, and raw onion slices.
Jjajangmeyon noodles are a long-time favorite in Korea
Jjajangmyeon is a very popular dish in Korea and very affordable. A bowl of the black bean sauce noodles, like what they ordered in One Dollar Lawyer, is priced around ₩7,000, or $6 USD for the meal.
Where can I buy Jjajangmyeon?
Korean restaurants
If you live in or near a larger city in the U.S., you can probably find Jjajangmyeon at a Korean or Chinese restaurant. Jump on Google and search “jjajangmyeon near me” and see what pops up.
Namkoong Min enjoying jjajangmyeon noodles
For example, the Kimchi Tofu House in Minneapolis sells ramen noodles with the black sauce (Jjajangmyeon) for about $12 (twice as much as in South Korea!). In Los Angeles, Kyo Dong in the Madang shopping mall sells Jjajangmyeon for a cool $9.99. And in Seattle, Korean Bamboo sells them for $16.99.
Korean grocery stores
You can also find Jjajangmyeon sold in Korean grocery stores if they have a deli section that makes ready-made dishes. Or if there are Korean or Asian festivals held in your city you might find it being sold from local food truck and street vendors.
Instant noodles
An alternative to restaurant or delivery-quality noodles would be instant noodles with a sauce packet. These won’t be near as flavorful as noodles made with fresh ingredients but just another option to consider.
The South Korean company, Nongshim, markets a product called Chapagetti that is meant to be Jjajangmyeon in instant noodle form. And it’s one of the highest rated instant jjajangmyeon noodles out there.
Another option is Paldo. They also sell a jjajangmyeon instant noodle in single and multi-packs. This one also comes highly rated by instant noodle lovers.
If you love Korean spicy noodles, you might consider Samyang Food’s Buldak Jjajang Korean Spicy noodles. These have the black bean paste flavor in a “fire noodle” form.
Make it yourself
Plenty of recipes to make jjajangmyeon can be found online. Just follow the instructions and make the noodles yourself. Just takes a little practice!
Making the food yourself might be the best option because you can flavor the sauce to your own liking and even add whatever vegetables you like!
