Tianmianjiang

Sweet bean sauce

A small dish of sweet bean sauce
Alternative names	Sweet flour sauce
Type	Sauce
Place of origin	China
Region or state	Northern and Northeastern China, South Korea
Associated national cuisine	Chinese cuisine Korean Chinese cuisine
Main ingredients	Flour, salt
Ingredients generally used	Soybean

Sweet bean sauce, also known as sweet flour sauce or sweet wheat paste (traditional Chinese: 甜麵醬/甜醬; simplified Chinese: 甜面酱/甜酱; pinyin: tiánmiànjiàng or tiánjiàng; Korean: 춘장; romaja: chunjang), is a thick, smooth, opaque dark brown (or black-coloured paste) with mild, savory and sweet taste. It is commonly used in Northern Chinese cuisine, as well as Korean Chinese cuisine.Peking duck and jajangmyeon are two popular dishes that utilize the sauce.

The Chinese word tiánmiànjiàng (甜面酱) consists of characters meaning "sweet" (甜), "flour" (面), and "sauce" (酱). It is also called tiánjiàng (甜酱), which means "sweet sauce". The Korean word chunjang (춘장) derives from the word cheomjang (첨장; 甛醬).

Although terms such as "sweet bean sauce" or "sweet bean paste" are used to describe the sauce, it is primarily made from fermented wheat flour. A mixture of approximately 19 servings of wheat flour and 1 soybean serving is used. The fermentation starter is made from dried, molded mantou (steamed bread) wrapped and bound with miangua (literally "flour fruit"; a variety of muskmelon) and hung in a cool, shaded area until completely dried. During the fermentation process, a sweet taste develops from the glucose and maltose.