Cantonese "Capital Spicy" Meat Sauce Noodles (京辣炸醬麵)

炸醬麵 are noodles with a rich meat sauce, and it seems every corner of China has its own local twist. 炸醬麵 originally came from Beijing, where it's practically a food group. But there's also Sichuan version, there's Xi'an version, Yunnan version, and even outside of China in Japan and especially Korea. And where I came from in the Cantonese world, we also have our 炸醬麵, or as we call it in Cantonese, 炸醬麵. You'll find that in wonton noodle shop, and when you're getting your wonton noodle soup, you'll often see other toppings to choose from. Stuff like shrimp roll, braised pork knuckle, beef brisket, and this is where you also get 炸醬. You'll usually choose it when you want a dry mixed noodle, 撈麵, and it's perfect when it's too hot to get a bowl of hot soup. So the core for every 炸醬 are basically the same. You are making a meat sauce specifically with ground fatty pork. Finely dicing it into mung bean size, or having a coarser grind, something like this, will yield a better texture. So now here we've got 400 grams worth, and then we'll start our rendering process with 1 tbsp of peanut oil. This will take a little bit, so do be patient. First, just take a couple minutes to patiently loosen up the pork, and then when it reaches its annoying love to stick to the wok stage, don't panic. Just scrape off everything that sticks to the wok with a metal wok tam. Then when it starts to release and render out some lard, the sticking will stop. The whole process from front to back will take about 15 to 20 minutes over a medium to medium-high flame before the pork starts to brown, a bit like this. And now we can add our sauces. And for 炸醬, it's the sauces that really gives each style its own regionality. Everywhere seem to like to use their own locally fermented sauces. And for the Cantonese style, we'll be using 麵絲. So you should be able to get it abroad almost at every Chinese grocer under the name ground bean paste. But this one, it's mandatory. You cannot make a Cantonese style 炸醬 without 麵絲 paste. Then there's also a second sauce that's a bit more optional. So for many Chinese 炸醬, it will include some kind of spicy sauce in it. And in Guangdong, we'll use Guilin chili sauce. And today, we'll have 40 grams of 麵絲 paste and 40 grams of Guilin chili sauce. And on top of that, we'll also have hoisin sauce and plain tomato sauce for more flavor. When you're adding your sauces though, there's one tip which is taking a couple tablespoons of lard and add it to your sauce and give it a quick mix first. This way, it will smooth out the sauce so that it mixes easier. But I forgot to do so when filming. And as you can see, it did took me a little bit to actually break up the sauce and combine with the pork. Anyway, after it's in, fry it for about a minute over medium flame to combine, and then add in our Guilin chili sauce. Also fry a bit to combine. And after that, one by one, add in 80 grams of hoisin sauce, 100 grams of plain tomato sauce, and 20 grams of granulated sugar. Now at this point, slightly up the flame to medium high, and we'll actually fry or 炸 our 醬. We'll fry in the lard for about five minutes to deepen the flavor a little bit. And after it's been bubbling for a bit, add in 200 grams stock and let it come to a boil. Cook it together for about another five minutes, keep stirring, and remember to wear an apron because this really is the splashing stage. And then finish with a seasoning of a quarter teaspoon each salt and chicken bouillon, plus a half teaspoon MSG, and slowly thicken with a slurry of half tablespoon starch and one tablespoon water. Anyway, now that our sauce has thickened to a consistency somewhere like this, then just heat off and put it in a bowl. So, to eat this, let's make a lo mein according to the wonton noodle shop style. So we'll boil up 60 grams of dry wonton egg noodles per portion. Once the noodle's done to your liking, take it out onto your noodle plate. Then quickly blanch a couple pieces of lettuce just like the noodle shop's. Arrange it neatly as well. Then drizzle about a half teaspoon of toasted sesame oil or lard all over everything. Toss on two to three tablespoons of our 炸醬 and sprinkle over a bit of scallion for garnish. And now you've got yourself some wonton noodle shop style lo mein. Just enjoy it with some lemon tea, mix well and devour. Now besides noodles, another way you will sometimes see this in restaurants is smothered over vegetables, something like eggplant or tofu and then steamed. But when you see it in this context, often on the menu, one character will be different. It will be 炸 instead of 炸. And this is a very interesting context of how different dialects will call this sauce, which we will explore more in the Sichuan version coming up in a couple days. So right, this is how you make the Cantonese style 炸醬麵. Recipe will be in the description box. Meanwhile, we'll have two more versions for you in just a couple days. In the same time, thank you for everyone that's supporting us on Patreon and subscribe for more Chinese fried sauce videos.