Jajangmyeon is popular among North Korean residents. North Korea is encouraging residents to eat wheat-flour foods due to a rice shortage.
On the 15th, the organ of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, Choson Sinbo, reported that more residents are visiting the "jajangmyeon shop" on Pyongyang's Changgwang Restaurant Street.
The newspaper said, "It is rumored that the jajangmyeon at this restaurant is superior in taste, aroma, and color to those of other jajangmyeon shops in Pyongyang." In particular, this restaurant is said to have been visited jointly by President Kim Il Sung and National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong Il in September 1985.
The jajangmyeon sold at this restaurant is said to taste different from Korean jajangmyeon. Korean jajangmyeon is mainly made by stir-frying chunjang and meat in cooking oil and mixing it with noodles. In contrast, North Korean jajangmyeon uses a doenjang stir-fry sauce as its base. The North Korean external propaganda outlet "DPRK Today" also described the Changgwang Restaurant Street jajangmyeon shop as "specializing in China's national cuisine."
The jajangmyeon shop manager told Choson Sinbo, "As social interest in wheat-flour foods has risen in recent years, the number of customers visiting the restaurant has been increasing."
North Korea is urging residents to increase their consumption of wheat-flour foods in response to a rice shortage. It is also expanding milling plant facilities in major cities.