Tianmianjiang
/tjɛn mjɛn tɕjɑŋ/noun
A thick, dark Chinese fermented wheat-flour sauce with a sweet, savory flavor, commonly used in northern Chinese cuisine.
Did you know?Tianmianjiang is traditionally made by fermenting wheat flour with salt and microbial cultures, a process related to the broader Chinese tradition of transforming grains into intensely flavored sauces.
Etymological Timeline
Old Chinese
Sinitic
甜
“Sweet; having a sugary or pleasant taste”
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese
麵
“Wheat flour or a flour-based food”
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese
醬
“A fermented sauce or paste, historically also a preserved meat or fish preparation”
20th Century
Mandarin Chinese
甜面酱 (tiánmiànjiàng)
“Sweet wheat-flour sauce”
Modern English
English culinary usage
tianmianjiang
“A romanized Chinese name for sweet wheat-flour sauce, also called sweet bean sauce or sweet wheat paste”
Explore more surprising origins