The Chinese word tiánmiànjiàng (甜麵醬) consists of characters meaning "sweet" (甜), "flour" (麵), and "sauce" (醬).

[citation needed] In southern China, mantou flour instead of sugar is commonly used as the main ingredient.

In Korea, chunjang (춘장) is most commonly used to make jajang (자장), a black gravy served with a popular noodle dish called jajangmyeon.

In most Korean-Chinese restaurants, raw onions, chunjang, and danmuji (yellow pickled radish) are the basic side dishes.

Korean chunjang is similar to the Shandong-style tiánmiànjiàng, as it was first used in Incheon Chinatown, where the majority of restaurants were run by Chinese immigrants from Shandong.