Jajangmyeon (or Jajangmyun) originated from the Chinese (Beijing) version of Zhajiangmian (炸酱面), which means ‘noodles with fried sauce’. The key difference between the two versions is the type of bean paste used to cook the sauce: the Chinese uses fermented brown soybean paste which is mainly salty; the Koreans use fermented black soybean paste which includes caramel and is hence not as salty. The secondary difference would be the ingredients added into the sauce: the former has their sauce stir-fried with minced meat; the Koreans fry theirs with loads of vegetables.
