Wow – number 1,700! Only 300 more to try until I hit the big 2000. Today, it’s a variety from A-Sha Dry Noodle of Taiwan. These are ‘Hakka’ noodles. Here’s a little info on the Hakka from Wikipedia:
The Hakka (Chinese: 客家), sometimes Hakka Han,[1][3] people are Han Chinese people who speak the Hakka Chinese language and have links to the provincial areas of Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Hong Kong,Sichuan, Hunan and Fujian in China. Though the majority of the Hakka live in Guangdong, they have a distinct identity from the Cantonese people.
The Chinese characters for Hakka (客家) literally mean “guest families”.[4] The Hakka’s ancestors were often said to have arrived from what is today’s central China centuries ago and north China a thousand years ago. The Hakkas are thought to originate from the lands bordering the Yellow River (i.e., the modern northern Chinese provinces of Shanxi, Henan, and Hubei).[5] In a series of migrations, the Hakkas moved, settled in their present locations in south China, and then often migrated overseas to various countries throughout the world.[6] The worldwide population of Hakkas is about 80 million, though the number of Hakka language speakers is fewer.[2] Hakka people have had a significant influence on the course of Chinese and world history; in particular, they have been a source of many revolutionary, government and military leaders.[7]
Now, some info about Za Jiang from Wikipedia:
Zhajiangmian (Traditional Chinese:炸醬麵, Simplified Chinese:炸酱面. Literally “fried sauce noodles”) is a Chinese dish consisting of thick wheat noodles topped with a mixture of ground pork stir-fried with zhajiang (炸醬), which is salty fermented soybean paste.
Alright – let’s give this a try!
Here’s the back of the package (click image to enlarge). Contains meat. To prepare, boil noodles for 4 minutes. Drain. Add in contents of sachet and combine. Enjoy!
The noodle block.
The liquid sachet.
Has a kind of meaty oil and soy scent.
Finished (click image to enlarge). Added A-Sha Bean Curd with shacha flavor. The noodles are thick and wide with a very pleasant texture and chew. The sauce imparts a nice homemade kind of flavor; reminds me of a kind of beef sauce with just the most subtle tinge of spiciness. Hearty stuff! 4.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 4715635851557.
Here’s a short local news magazine show update about the top ten list of 2013 controversy.
