Sweet noodle sauce

Sweet noodle sauce (literally "sweet noodle paste"; also known as sweet bean sauce or sweet soybean paste) is a thick, dark brown- or black-colored Chinese sauce is made from wheat flour, sugar, salt, mantou, and ground fermented yellow soybeans (that is, what is left of the soybeans after the fermentation of soybeans into soy sauce).

There are many different types of sweet noodle sauces depending on the different compositions and the different method of production, and each variation represents the unique local style of a particular region, and even within the same geographical region, different manufacturers produces different kinds of sweet noodle sauce. For example, in northern China, the use of sugar is far less than in southern China in term of amount added, while the usage of mantou flour as the main ingredient is a much more common practice. Traditionally, in these regions, a good brand of sweet noodle sauce is considered top quality when its sweet taste results not from the addition of sugar, but as a direct result of the fermentation of the starches contained in the sauce's ingredients.

Similar to the better known hoisin sauce, sweet noodle sauce is sometimes used in dishes such as Peking Duck and as a replacement for yellow soybean paste (黄酱; pinyin: huángjiàng) in zhajiang mian; in Beijing cuisine, yellow soybean paste is the traditional accompaniment for these two dishes. Sweet noodle sauce is sweeter than yellow soybean paste, which is saltier.

Sweet noodle sauce can be found in a typical Asian supermarkets under various English names, but with a common Chinese name.

Sweet noodle sauce's Korean equivalent is the chunjang (hangul: 춘장; hanja: 春醬) used in the dish jajangmyeon (hangul: 자장면; hanja: 炸醬麵).

As an analogy, soy sauce is to the ancient Roman fish sauce garum as sweet noodle sauce is to the ancient Roman paste alec.