Ching He Huang's 10-minute zhajiang noodles

After a busy weekend, all we want is a quick idea for Monday night’s dinner and Ching’s back with the answer.

Cooked in under 10 minutes, her classic Beijing noodles are packed with goodness - fresh leeks, ginger, spring onions and smokey bacon - the perfect Monday night meal for the family.

Zhajiang mein means mixed sauce noodle and is a classic Beijing dish that is made with fresh hand-pulled noodles.

There are many different variations, and some are saucier than others, but I prefer the traditional Zhajiang noodle, which is slightly drier.

I also like to add minced garlic as well as the customary leeks, ginger, Shaohsing rice wine, Sichuan peppercorns and chilli oil.

Here I have also used smoked lardons instead of the traditional belly pork because of their smoky, salty cured flavour. The trick is to dry-fry them in the wok until the fat is slightly crisp.

Recipe taken from Stir Crazy by Ching He Huang

Serves: 2

697 calories39.3g carbs25.3g protein49.7g fat

Ingredients

For the noodles

1 tbsp sesame oil1 tsp dried chilli sauce laced with chilli oil200g plain wheat flour or egg noodles, cooked, drained and tossed with 1 tsp toasted sesame oil2 tbsp rapeseed oil1 tbsp finely chopped garlic1 tbsp finely chopped root ginger2 tbsp diced baby leeks1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns200g smoked lardons, finely chopped1 tbsp Shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry1 tbsp fragrant oil (see tip)1 tsp dark soy sauce150ml hot chicken or pork stock1 tbsp tian mian jiang or hoisin sauce1 tbsp yellow bean paste or miso paste

For the garnish

2 small red radishes, sliced into matchsticks½ cucumber, deseeded and sliced into matchsticks1 spring onion, finely chopped

Method

• Start with the noodles – divide the sesame oil and chilli oil between two serving bowls. Place the cooked noodles in the bowls, toss in the oil and sauce and set aside.

• Heat a wok over a high heat until smoking and add the rapeseed oil. Add the garlic, ginger, leeks and Sichuan peppercorns and toss for a few seconds, then add the lardons and stir fry for 1 minute.

• Add the Shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry, the fragrant oil and dark soy sauce and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the stock, tian mian jiang or hoisin sauce and the yellow bean paste or miso and toss together well. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring until the pork is cooked.

• Divide the pork mixture between the two bowls of noodles and garnish with the radish and cucumber matchsticks. Sprinkle with the spring onion and serve immediately.

• To eat, toss and mix all the ingredients together well

Ching’s tip - to make the fragrant oil, heat 5 tbsp of ground nut oil. Add a pinch of salt, 1 tbsp grated ginger and 1 tbsp finely chopped spring onion, cook for 1 minute then strain the oil into a glass jar. Keep for 5 days in a cool place.