Jackson Heights Jjajangmyun

JH jjajangmyun

Traditional Chinese-Korean jjajangmyun

Jackson Heights cuisine is a fusion style that incorporates Latin, East Asian, South Asian, and European or American flavors and ingredients that I like to think I invented. This dish was inspired by the Chinese-Korean dish called jjajangmyun which usually is fermented black bean sauce with pork and vegetables like zucchini, potatoes, and peas over soft wheat noodles.  

For my version I used left overs from a meal of Mexican tamales and black beans and paired with linguini.

1 can black beans
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic or 1 tbs garlic paste
1 tbl olive oil
1 tsp. salt, plus more to taste
1/2 lb cooked linguini

Saute the onion and garlic in the oil and salt until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the canned beans with half a can of water. Simmer for 15 minutes. Mash the beans so most are pureed, but some are still whole. Adjust consistency to sauce-like thickness by adding water or simmering uncovered. Adjust salt. It should be fairly salty. Serve over hot linguini.

Pipían or Mole Verde (Pumpkin Seed Sauce) for Chicken

I based on the recipe on the one by Rick Bayles, modified the technique a little to make it less labor intensive, and added more of most of the flavoring ingredients. This is definitely not a a quick meal, but it requires less time and ingredients than many other moles.

1 large white onion, sliced 10 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and cut in half
1 1/2 tsp salt 1 chicken (3-4 lbs), separate into 10 pieces: 2 boneless breast halves, drumsticks, wings, thighs, back, and ribs, plus giblets
4 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram 2 green onions, chopped into quarters
1 cup hulled pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
a handful of large sprigs cilantro, roughly chopped
4 large romaine leaves, roughly chopped
about 10 large radish leaves, roughly chopped spicy green chilies to taste (roughly 6 serranos or 4 small jalapeños), stemmed, seeded, and roughly chopped

Chicken and broth
In a large (6-quart) pot, bring 8 cups of water to a boil with half of the onion, 5 cloves of garlic, carrot, marjoram, thyme, bay, and 1 teaspoon of the salt and the chicken ribs, back, neck, heart and giblets. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes.

Add the dark meat quarters and simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes.
Add the breast halves, cover and simmer for 13 minutes.
Turn off the heat and let the chicken cool for a few minutes in the broth.
Remove the breasts, drumsticks, thighs, and wings, from the broth and set aside.
Use a spider to strain the onion, garlic, carrot, bay leaves, giblets, ribs, and back from the broth and discard. Spoon off any fat that rises to the top.

Pumpkin Seeds, while the chicken is cooking
In a large (10-to 12-inch), heavy skillet set over medium heat, spread out the pumpkin seeds and toast, stirring regularly, until all have popped (from flat to rounded) and turned golden (no darker); once they start popping, the whole process shouldn’t take longer than 5 minutes. At 3.5 minutes turn off the heat but keep stirring until the popping stops and you're sure that the pan has cooled enough so they won't burn.

Sauce
In a blender, combine the cooled pumpkin seeds with the remaining half of the onion and garlic, the cilantro, romaine, radish leaves, green onions and green chiles. Add enough of the chicken broth to blend to a smooth puree.

Pour the puree into a large pot or pan and stir constantly until very thick, about 10 minutes. Add more broth if it gets too thick, partially cover and simmer 20 minutes. (The sauce will look grainy at this point.)

Scrape the sauce into a blender, cover and blend to a smooth puree; if necessary add a little extra broth to give the sauce a medium consistency.

Rinse your saucepan, return the blended sauce to it, taste and season with salt, usually a 1/2 teaspoon.

Add the chicken and warm (but don’t bring to a simmer) over medium-low heat, about 10 minutes.

Transfer the chicken to a warm serving platter, then ladle the sauce over and around it.

The dish can be prepared a couple of days ahead: store poached chicken and sauce separately, covered and refrigerated. Heat the chicken and sauce together on the stove top just before serving.

Notes: The sauce can be made separately and used for very rich and delicious enchiladas.

The chicken broth is also good to add to some beans if you're making them to accompany your meal. Serve with warm corn tortillas.

Serves 4, with about 5 cups sauce (so you’ll have leftovers for another round of chicken or for enchiladas or vegetables)