By popular request, I’ve worked out a basic black bean sauce you can use to make jjajangmyeon, jjajangbap and other yummy things.

2 tablespoons oil (peanut, canola or vegetable, anything you want to use, but not olive)
2 tablespoons fermented black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine
1 teaspoon sugar
1-1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

Heat a wok or heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil, the black beans and garlic and stir-fry for just about 10 seconds. Add the chicken broth, soy sauce, rice wine, sugar and con starch and stir-fry about 1 minute or until sauce thickens.

Makes about 3/4 cup of sauce.

Then you can use this sauce with the jjajangmyeon recipe from my latest book to make a slurpy, delicious noodle lunch.