Jjajangmyeon (짜장면)
Black-bean sauce noodles — moving-day and delivery royalty.
- Korean name
- 짜장면
- Spice level
- Not spicy
- Flavor
- savory · sweet
- Typically contains
- pork, wheat noodles
- Vegetarian / vegan
- Not vegetarian — meat or seafood is core to the dish
- Typical price
- ₩7,000–₩9,000 per person checked 2026-07 — varies by area
- Good to know
- Beginner-friendly ●●●●● Solo dining ●●●●● Kid-friendly ●●●●●
- Also written as
- jajangmyeon, jjajang, jajang myun, black bean noodles
What is Jjajangmyeon?
Jjajangmyeon is Korea's black-noodle icon: thick wheat noodles under a glossy sauce of chunjang (caramelized black bean paste), pork and onions. Born in Incheon's Chinatown, perfected as Korea's first delivery food, it owns moving day, graduation day, and 'Black Day' (April 14) when singles eat it in mock mourning.
How to eat it
- Mix immediately and completely — the sauce must coat every strand before it cools.
- Eat with danmuji (yellow radish) and raw onion dipped in chunjang; that's the holy trinity.
- Slurping is correct; a jjajang-stained mouth is the sign of doing it right.
Good to know
- It's heavier and sweeter than it looks — the 'gan-jjajang' (dry, wok-fresh sauce) version is stronger still.
- Wheat and often shellfish stock in the sauce — allergy relevance.
Every Korean-Chinese restaurant lives on the jjajang-vs-jjamppong dilemma; 'jjamjjamyeon' half-half bowls exist because the choice is genuinely hard.
Seen on Screen
Castaway on the Moon (김씨 표류기, 2009) — He farms for months to cook one bowl from scratch — jjajangmyeon as the taste of hope itself.
✓ Verified — editorial research · Explore the scene →
Nutrition
| Calories | 88 kcal |
|---|---|
| Carbohydrate | 14.37 g |
| Protein | 2.69 g |
| Fat | 2.22 g |
| Sodium | 307 mg |
Per serving (~600g): ≈528 kcal · sodium ≈1,842 mg (92% of the WHO daily guideline, 2,000 mg)
