Zhajiangmian

Zhajiangmian is thick wheat noodles tossed with a fried, salty-sweet soybean-paste sauce and minced pork. It's Beijing's noodle dish, and it's worth being clear it's built on a completely different sauce base from dan dan noodles — this one is fried soybean paste, savoury and slightly sweet, with no chilli oil or sesame paste anywhere near it.

What it actually is

Soybean paste — a thick, dark, fermented paste — fries in oil with minced meat until the paste loses its raw edge and turns glossy and deeply savoury, the frying step is what the dish's name literally refers to ("zhajiang" means "fried sauce"). Thick, chewy wheat noodles boil separately and toss with that sauce, topped with a scatter of julienned raw cucumber and other fresh vegetables for crunch and contrast against the rich, salty sauce underneath.

The sauce has to be fried, not just mixed raw. Frying the soybean paste with the meat is what develops its depth and thickens it into a proper coating sauce — a version that skips this step and just stirs raw paste into the noodles misses the entire technique the dish is named for.

How it's served

• Hot, tossed through, the raw vegetable garnish kept crisp and cool on top.
• As a main course, filling on its own.
• Mixed at the table, the sauce and noodles sometimes kept separate until the last moment to protect the garnish's crunch.

Writing it on a menu

• Flag gluten from the noodles and soy from the paste.
• Say that it's built on soybean paste, not chilli oil, since guests picturing dan dan noodles may expect a spicier, sesame-forward dish.
• Note which raw vegetables top it, since the exact garnish varies by kitchen.
• Mention if a vegetarian version of the sauce is offered, since the classic recipe includes minced meat.