Rich, salty-sweet zha jiang mian

These satisfying, rib-sticking noodles are just the thing to reset and restore after a hectic week.

View in browser|nytimes.com September 27, 2024 Sue Li's zha jiang mian. Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Zha jiang mian to reset and restore By Sam Sifton Good morning. I'm still smarting over the two really expensive sandwiches I bought the other day at a gourmet shop in the next town over: one of them an ostensibly Italian number on white-bread focaccia, fridge-cold and tasteless; the other a "spicy" fried chicken cutlet on soggy pretzel bread with kimchi. That one was bathwater-warm and tasteless. Both were a reminder that the eating life isn't always a run of wins. There are cruel defeats along the way, and the best thing to do when you experience them is to make absolutely sure that the meal that follows the loss is delicious. To wit, try zha jiang mian, a classic Beijing-style dish of noodles with fried bean sauce that is porky and rich, salty-sweet and satisfying. You don't need to have had a terrible meal in the hours before making it to experience its excellence, but it is a revelation if you have. It's the sort of meal you ought to make after a day of airline snacks or conference-room repasts, and definitely on Friday nights. It's perfect weekend fare even if you've been lucky enough to eat well all week. When it comes to these two days that some of us have off from work, we should be looking for five-star delectable every time. Featured Recipe Zha Jiang Mian View Recipe → Other recipes in that vein: the tuna melt from Golden Diner in New York City; the buttermilk fried chicken I learned to make years ago in Rehoboth Beach, Del.; and the fish chowder that Julia Moskin picked up in the kitchen of Eventide, in Portland, Maine. I'd like to make a bo ssam on Saturday night, with a double apple pie to follow. A buttery breakfast casserole on Sunday morning? Yes, please, with a breakfast salad alongside it to encourage napping through the midday hours. And for dinner on Sunday? Autumn has fallen. It's time again for Sunday sauce over pasta and a Lucali salad to eat on the red-stained plates afterward. If none of that appeals, there are thousands and thousands more recipes to consider cooking this weekend waiting for you on New York Times Cooking. You need a subscription to read them, of course. Subscriptions support our work. Please, if you haven't already, would you consider subscribing today? Thank you. Should you find yourself in a jam with our technology, do reach out for help: cookingcare@nytimes.com. Someone will get back to you. If you'd like to lodge a complaint or register your satisfaction, you can also write to me: foodeditor@nytimes.com. I can't respond to every letter. But I read each one I get. Now, it's a considerable distance from anything to do with roast beef or scuffins, but here's Drew Magary in Outside, on tourists ravaging Yellowstone National Park. My pal Ned turned me on to a fantastic tale of commercial fishing in Australia in the 1960s: Nino Culotta's "Gone Fishin'." (Culotta is the pseudonym of the writer John O'Grady, who died in 1981.) It begins with an epigram: "Lo the angler. He riseth early in the morning and upsetteth the whole household. Mighty are his preparations. He goeth forth with a great hope in his heart — and when the day is far spent he returneth, smelling of strong drink, and the truth is not in him." Dwight Garner entered the Sally Rooney discourse this week in The New York Times Book Review, with a rave for her new novel, "Intermezzo." (David Marchese, for his part, interviewed the author for The New York Times Magazine.) Finally, there's a new Bon Iver track out, "Speyside," that is old-school Bon Iver, plucky and sad. "Nothing's really something, now the whole thing's soot." Listen to that while you're making something delicious, and I'll see you on Sunday. IN THIS NEWSLETTER Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Golden Diner's Tuna Melt Recipe from Sam Yoo Adapted by Alexa Weibel 45 minutes, plus at least 1 hour chilling Makes 4 sandwiches Karsten Moran for The New York Times Buttermilk Fried Chicken By Sam Sifton 45 minutes Makes 4 servings Con Poulos for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Donna Hay. Eventide Fish Chowder Recipe from Eventide Adapted by Julia Moskin 45 minutes Makes 4 to 6 servings Marcus Nilsson for The New York Times. Food stylist: Brian Preston-Campbell. Prop stylist: PJ Mehaffey. Momofuku's Bo Ssam Recipe from David Chang and Peter Meehan Adapted by Sam Sifton 7 hours, plus 6 hours' seasoning Makes 6 to 10 servings Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times Buttery Breakfast Casserole By Melissa Clark 1 1/2 hours, plus 4 hours or overnight chilling Makes 8 to 10 servings George Etheredge for The New York Times Breakfast Salad Recipe from Amanda Bechara Adapted by Julia Moskin 30 minutes, plus 12 hours' marinating (optional)  Makes 2 servings Christopher Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Sunday Sauce By Ali Slagle 3½ hours Makes 6 to 8 servings Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times Double Apple Pie By Melissa Clark 2 1/2 hours, plus at least 3 1/2 hours' chilling and cooling Makes 8 servings Sign up for the Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter Fresh dinner ideas for busy people who want something great to eat, with NYT Cooking recipes sent to you weekly. 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