Gluten free jajangmyeon is like the stuff of dreams. Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) jajangmyeon? Even better! I never considered AIP-fying jajangmyeon as I simply assumed that the fundamental base ingredient was impossible to replace since it’s a fermented soy-based product, but it turns out that with a bit of experimenting I could actually come up with a Paleo Autoimmune Protocol version. In short, never assume and never give up!
What is jajangmyeon?
Jajangmyeon is a hybrid Korean-Chinese noodle dish topped with jajang sauce (a type of black bean sauce) cooked with a mixture of meat (often pork or seafood) and vegetables. The hallmark of this dish is probably the rich dark colour of the sauce made with chunjang (black bean paste), due to the addition of caramel to the mixture of fermented flour and soy beans, which is typically stir-fried, hence the name ‘jajang’ which literally means ‘fried sauce’.
The sauce, or jang
So yes, chunjang is not AIP. How can a dish requiring this core ingredient be possibly made AIP? In the standard version, you simply buy chunjang and stir-fry it with meat and vegetables to make the sauce. You could make traditional gluten free chunjang the way it was made before industrialisation and commercialism (and thus ‘wheatism’) of sauces started, but that would also require soy beans.
In this AIP-compliant version, the list of ingredients for the sauce may seem unusual but yields a really tasty paste with loads of umami flavour! When fried, it seriously becomes really fragrant and you won’t think that there are no fermented soy beans in it. The recipe makes enough sauce for 2 batches of jajangmyeon, you can use half for cooking your jajangmyeon and keeping the other half in a sealed container in the fridge. I have not tested the shelf-life of this sauce, so it is best to use it within 5 days or so!
Recreating that umami taste
Canned pitted black olives are important as they have a well-rounded taste that is less sharp or intense compared to other black olives (such as Kalamata or sun-dried black olives). Most of the ingredients in the paste are there to contribute to umami (the fifth taste), that unique blend of savoury, sweet, and salty. A note about the shrimp sauce used in the recipe: I used the Lee Kum Kee brand, which is a Chinese-style shrimp sauce (har cheong) that looks like a pinkish-grey paste and is not the same as the darker coloured belacan (which is the Southeast Asian variety).
Choice of noodles (myeon)
Since the typical wheat flour-based noodles are out in this AIP version, I have chosen to go with zucchini noodles, a.k.a. ‘zoodles’. If you have a spiraliser this is great fun to make, especially for children! You can also use Korean sweet potato vermicelli (dangmyeon) but it is not as nutritious as zucchini noodles and is denser. I have tried both and think they have their pros and cons, but I think the zucchini noodles are a great and light option especially during summer. You can get very long strands if you spiralise straighter zucchini, and peeling them beforehand makes them more noodle-like.
Once you have your ingredients set up, the cooking process is pretty straightforward and easy. I have chosen to use beef instead of pork as I like how the red meat goes with the jajang sauce, but feel free to use pork instead (or chicken/ seafood, for that matter). A nicely marbled cut is lovely, though any steak cut is usable, as the beef gets cut into small cubes and cooked.
How to make gluten free jajangmyeon
I heated the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot and proceeded to fry the sauce, before scooping out the fried sauce and setting it aside.
Then I added in the onions and beef, followed by the vegetables. No lack of vegetables in this dish!
In went the cabbage and zucchini, followed by the fried paste. Finally I added some bone broth in and let the meat and vegetables simmer until tender.
The sauce colour
I wanted the colour of the sauce to be really dark, like conventional jajangmyeon, and added some activated charcoal capsules into the arrowroot slurry. This is totally optional, of course, and does not affect the overall taste. If you leave it out, the sauce will simply be brown instead of inky brown.
Serving the gluten free jajangmyeon
Finally, the finished sauce was ladled over bowls of zucchini noodles and garnished with julienned cucumber. The uncooked zucchini noodles were softened slightly by the piping hot and freshly cooked sauce.
Stirred up and slurped down. My family enjoyed this savoury gluten free jajangmyeon! So, won’t you give it a try?
Where to purchase certain ingredients online (affiliate links):
- Coconut aminos
- Sea salt
- ground ginger
- dried prunes
- dried mushroom
- Canned pitted black olives
- carob powder
- Blackstrap molasses
- fish sauce
- shrimp sauce
- avocado oil
- arrowroot starch
- activated charcoal
- FOR THE BEEF
- Beef steak, cut into small ⅓ inch cubes (you can also substitute with pork, as traditionally used)
- ½ tablespoon coconut aminos
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- FOR THE 'BLACK BEAN' PASTE
- ⅓ cup dried prunes
- 2 dried shiitake mushrooms, about 1.5 inches in diameter each
- ⅔ cup hot water, divided
- ¾ cup canned pitted black olives, drained
- 1 tablespoon carob powder
- 1 tablespoon coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon shrimp sauce
- FOR THE SAUCE
- 2 tablespoons fat/ avocado oil, divided
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 2 medium parsnips, peeled and cubed (or use white sweet potato, daikon, or rutabaga)
- 1 medium-large zucchini, chopped into ½ inch cubes (2.5 cups)
- ¼ head cabbage, cut into ½ inch thick bite-sized strips (3.5 cups)
- 2 cups bone broth
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch
- ¼ cup water
- Activated charcoal powder from 2 - 3 capsules (optional)
- Extra sea salt and blackstrap molasses, to taste
- FOR THE NOODLES
- 4 medium zucchini
- FOR THE GARNISH
- ½ English cucumber, julienned
- Marinate the beef: combine the beef cubes, coconut aminos, sea salt, and ground ginger in a bowl and set aside.
- Soften the prunes: Soak the dried prunes in ⅓ cup hot water until softened, then drain.
- Soften and chop the mushrooms: Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms in ⅓ cup hot water until softened, then squeeze gently, trim, and discard the stem. Chop the softened mushrooms. Reserve 3 tablespoons of the mushroom soaking water.
- Make the 'black bean' sauce: Combine the softened prunes, chopped mushrooms, mushroom soaking water, olives, carob powder, coconut aminos, blackstrap molasses, fish sauce, sea salt and shrimp sauce in a blender or food processor and blend until a smooth paste forms. You should get a heaping ¾ cup. Split and store half in a resealable container in the refrigerator for another batch of jajangmyeon. Set aside the other half.
- Heat a heavy-bottomed pot or wok over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of fat/ oil.
- Once hot, add the sauce and fry for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Remove the paste (scrape out as much as possible) and set aside.
- Increase the heat to medium-high and add another tablespoon of fat/ oil (if necessary), then add in the onions.
- Cook for 2 - 3 minutes, or until translucent, then add in the marinated meat.
- Stir-fry until the meat is browned, then add in the parsnips.
- Stir-fry for 5 minutes before stirring in the zucchini, cabbage, and fried paste.
- Pour in the bone broth and bring to a simmer.
- Cover and let it cook for 5 - 8 minutes, or until vegetables are just tender.
- Make the arrowroot slurry: Combine the arrowroot starch, water and activated charcoal powder (if using). Stir well, dissolving any clumps. Set aside.
- Once the vegetables are tender, uncover, stir in the arrowroot slurry and cook until the sauce is thickened.
- Season to taste with additional sea salt and blackstrap molasses, if necessary. (I used 1 teaspoon each)
- Make the noodles: Peel, spiralise the zucchini and distribute the zucchini noodles into individual serving bowls.
- Ladle the thickened sauce over. The heat of the sauce will soften the noodles slightly.
- Garnish with the julienned English cucumber and serve immediately.
Is the shrimp sauce aip compliant?
Yes, it is. You can also use fish sauce as an alternative.
Would love to surprise my wife with this but can anyone vouch for how it tastes compared to what they might get at a restaurant? I am also leaning towards trying to use Barilla’s GF fettuccine instead of spiralized zucchini – half of the experience is the chewy noodles
Hi Jay,
It’s been a while since I had Jajangmyun at a restaurant so it is hard to say, but it’s a pretty tasty dish! I love Korean food and this was very satisfying. I’m not familiar with Barilla’s GF fettuccine, but any GF noodles which replicate the texture of wheat noodles should do just fine. Hope it turns out okay for you!