Jecheon Chinese restaurant with crispy cream tangsuyuk: Nangman Jjajang

I went to Nangman Jjajang near Uirimji in Jecheon. Nangman Jjajang is a famous Chinese restaurant in Jecheon, a truly great local spot that even has a wait on weekends. This was my second visit, and I headed straight over for some delicious Chinese food after a while, haha.

Parking and waiting at Nangman Jjajang

The parking lot at Nangman Jjajang, a great jjamppong spot in Jecheon, is right in front of the restaurant!

Here is the exterior.

On days when there is a wait, just write your name on the list and wait in the waiting area! I visited at weekday lunch, so luckily there was no wait, haha.

This is the interior. There are a decent number of tables, but there were so many diners even at weekday lunch! By the lunch rush, it was nearly full.

Ordering tray jjajang and cream tenderloin tangsuyuk

The menu has Chinese-food staples such as jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup) and jjajang, as well as cold jjamppong, Jecheon tangsuyuk, garlic tenderloin tangsuyuk, and cream tenderloin tangsuyuk, so there is lots to choose from, haha.

The two of us ordered the two-person tray jjajang (₩25,000) and two-person cream tenderloin tangsuyuk (₩25,000)! On my previous visit, I had jjamppong and garlic tenderloin tangsuyuk, and both were so delicious that I want to recommend the other menu items too, haha. It feels like everything at Nangman Jjajang is good.

The restaurant has a note about the flavors Nangman Jjajang pursues, and the owner’s philosophy for running the restaurant really stood out, haha.

This is Nangman Jjajang’s country-of-origin board. The chili powder and cabbage are Korean-grown. Restaurants like this are rare these days, so I liked being able to eat with confidence knowing they were domestic, haha.

The basic side dishes are pickled chili peppers and danmuji (yellow pickled radish).

For extra side dishes, feel free to use the self-service bar! Steamed rice is free too, so anyone with a big appetite might want to have rice alongside their meal, haha.

The self-service bar has house-made pickles and Chungju apple kimchi! It somehow felt even nicer to find Chungju apple kimchi in Jecheon, haha. Very few places use Korean-grown kimchi these days, so I liked being able to eat it with confidence. 👏🏻👏🏻

Here are the two-person tray jjajang (₩25,000) and two-person cream tenderloin tangsuyuk (₩25,000) we ordered. Ah, can you see how gorgeous this looks?ㅠ

Tenderloin tangsuyuk topped with cream sauce

First up is the cream tenderloin tangsuyuk, which is said to be Nangman Jjajang’s signature dish, haha. Unlike regular tangsuyuk (sweet-and-sour fried pork), it comes topped with white cream sauce, so it looks distinctly different from the start. A generous amount of white cream sauce goes over the crisp-fried pork, with thinly sliced onion on top, and it even feels a little like a cream dish.

The fried coating was thick yet still crisp. In particular, even though it came with the cream sauce already poured over it, it did not get soggy as quickly as I expected, and the crisp exterior lasted quite a while!

At first, you get the soft, rich flavor of cream, then a slight tang comes through and cuts the oiliness of the fried food. It is like cream shrimp, except with meat in place of shrimp. Once I tried it, I understood why it is so popular, haha.

The moderately sweet cream sauce goes so well with the tender meat. Personally, I like dipping it in soy sauce too, so I did that as well, haha.

Eating it with the onion on top adds the onion’s crisp texture and sharp flavor, giving it another dimension. I had never had tangsuyuk in this style before, but the combination was better than I expected!

Tray jjajang with seafood and a gentle kick

This is the two-person tray jjajang we ordered, served generously on a wide tray with noodles and jjajang sauce. From above, I could already see seafood such as squid and all kinds of ingredients throughout it, making it look much more appetizing than ordinary jjajangmyeon, haha.

The jjajang sauce was evenly mixed through the noodles, giving them a glossy look, and the portion was so generous that I think three people could eat it, haha.

The tray jjajang noodles were springy and pleasantly chewy. Nangman Jjajang is said to use house-made noodles, and when I actually tried them, their chewy texture came through more clearly than with typical jjajangmyeon, haha. The sauce was also a little spicy, more than I expected, which made it even better.

At first, the sweet jjajang flavor comes through, but a subtle spiciness builds toward the end, so it never feels heavy and keeps you reaching for more. 🤤

Because it has seafood, every bite brings squid or other ingredients along with it, so you get more varied textures than with just jjajang sauce and noodles. 👍🏻 When it started to feel rich, the tangy apple kimchi made it even more delicious, haha. Be sure to try it with the kimchi!‼️