Rou Jia Mo (Chinese Hamburger)
The oldest hamburger in the world!? Xi 'an's specialty where the taste of stewed pork explodes
Description
The representative street food of Xi'an (Shaanxi), often dubbed the 'world's oldest hamburger'. Pork braised in 20+ spices until falling apart is finely hand-chopped and stuffed—dripping with its own juices—into a special round flatbread (Mo) that is crispy outside and fluffy inside.
Restaurants serving Rou Jia Mo (Chinese Hamburger)
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On this site you can check dictionary details and, later, places to buy or eat related items.
The Recipe section below is a general reference, not a recipe from the listed shops.
Recipe
Ingredients
- Skin-on Pork belly
- Wheat flour
- Green chilies
- Coriander
- Soy sauce
- Star anise and medicinal spices
Instructions
- [Authentic Recipe & Trends]
- (Meat Braise: La Zhi Rou) Braise skin-on pork belly in 'Lao Tang' (a century-old master stock) packed with soy, rock sugar, and 20+ spices (star anise, cinnamon, black cardamom) for hours until it melts at the touch of a chopstick.
- (Baking the Bread: Bai Ji Mo) Knead flour with a touch of yeast and lye water. Roll into flat discs. Bake on a dry griddle until the surface achieves a crisp, beautiful char known as 'Tiger's back and Chrysanthemum heart'.
- (Stuffing) Place the hot braised pork on a board with green chilies and cilantro. Violently hand-chop everything together with a heavy cleaver.
- Slit the freshly baked bread and stuff it to the absolute brim with the meat.
- Finally, drizzle a spoonful of the 'premium braising liquid' directly into the bread to soak it.
Learn more Spice, substitutes, tips
Key spices
Complex medicinal spice aroma、Intense pork umami
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
(Shred pork Kakuni and sandwich it in an English muffin)
Pairing
Liang Pi (Cold Noodles) / Bing Feng(Orange soda)
Trivia
[Trivia] The name is literal: 'Meat (Rou)', 'Clamped (Jia)', 'Bread (Mo)'. Recently expanding globally as Chinese fast food, creating massive lines in New York and London as a world-class B-grade gourmet phenomenon.
Eating tips & etiquette
[Unique Eating] Handed over in a paper bag. One bite delivers a crispy crunch from the bread, immediately followed by a massive rush of spiced, premium meat juices. In Xi'an, eating this alongside 'Liang Pi' (cold noodles) is the absolute 'Golden Combo'.
Allergen
Wheat, Pork, Soybeans