MáLà Project – Zhajiang Noodle

$2.00 – $12.00

“One of the most famous noodle dishes that define northern cuisine; the savory and sweet flavor is very addicting. “Zhajiang” means “fried sauce” –– the dish is packed with flavor; the addition of vinegar and cucumber add a kick.” – Amelie Kang. Chef & Owner, MáLà Project.

Vegetarian recipe modification available!

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GIVING BACK

This recipe gives back to ROAR (Relief Opportunities for All Restaurants) which is working in partnership with Robin Hood to raise donations for a New York City restaurant employee relief fund.

CHEF & OWNER AMELIE KANG’S STORY

Ning (Amelie) Kang developed her love for original Chinese home cooking beside her grandmother’s wok stove. Being a firm believer in “find something you love, and never work a day,” Amelie went against the mainstream and chose to turn her passion for food into a profession at the Culinary Institute of America. After graduation, Amelie went through every position in restaurant operations, including line-cook at Michelin Star chef Daniel Boulud’s restaurant, bartender at B Flat, and General Manager at China Blue, etc. To her surprise, she discovered that despite New York City being a gastronomy heaven, it had few Chinese restaurants that demonstrated her home cuisine to the fullest. Eager to find familiar flavors of her childhood 6,000 miles away from her home, she decided to open her own restaurant to define what she had been searching for.

At the age of 24, she opened the first location of MáLà Project in East Village, focused on reviving the childhood memory of the food and surroundings that her generation had grown up with back home. She wanted to influence the way people ate and interacted with one another through her restaurant concept. Besides representing her hometown cuisine at MáLà Project, Amelie is also determined to create a workplace where restaurant workers can build their lives upon.

The number one focus for Amelie is her employees’ advancement and fulfillment. She prioritizes employee training, culture building, and staﬀ advancement. She strives to build restaurants for her staﬀ, then her customers. This philosophy has ensured that the staﬀ retention rate is high above the industry average, and among the few employees who did move on, most of them have come back to MáLà Project team.

On February 2018, Amelie and her team opened a second location of MáLà Project in midtown, and the first location of Chubby Princess, a chic Chinese bistro offering noodles, dumplings, and other authentic Chinese home-cooking in the Financial District. Recognized for her talent and dedication to the hospitality industry, and as a pioneer whose success story has led to the most recent wave of new Chinese restaurants in East Village, Amelie was awarded Eater’s Young Guns 2018 alongside two other chef/owners in New York, Forbes 30 Under 30 2020, and Eater New Guard of New York.