Isn’t she a beauty?
Ever since coming to Beijing I’ve been addicted to ròujiāmó 肉夹馍. This snack, which originated from Xi’an in Shanxi province, consists of pork, herbs, shredded lettuce, and chilli sauce stuffed into a pita-like pocket. It reminds me of the Middle Eastern shwarma pockets I would get in NYC from street vendors, though ròujiāmó with its juicy juicy pork is decidedly un-halal.
Ròujiāmó can be found in many snack shops and street stands around Beijing (and Xi’an, Shanghai, etc.). Most are already prepared with a decent amount of pork sitting neatly inside. The ones I’m addicted to, however, are the ones that are made to order. The vendor would splice off fatty pork off the rotisserie spit, chop up the meat, and mix it with lettuce, cucumber, onions, and chilli sauce. She would then stuff the contents into a warm pocket. The ròujiāmó is subsequently so overflowing with pork that there’s no way you can eat it without getting messy. But it looks and smells and tastes so delicious that you just don’t care.
I usually get ròujiāmó as a mid-afternoon snack, but I also have no qualms about eating one for lunch or dinner if I’m not too hungry. There are times when you just don’t feel like cooking or going out for a full meal. I remember Ruth Reichl once wrote in Gourmet that on her nights off from food reviewing, or when she wanted to save her appetite and wallet for fancier meals, she would often have fried dumplings from NYC’s Chinatown for dinner. If street food as a meal works for Ruth, it works for me.
Great pictures! I’m saving up to go to Beijing again.
I looooove me some 肉夹馍! I will have to remember to try it in Beijing the next time I’m there.
The stand near my apartment is pretty good, but I hate cilantro, so for the longest time I felt my sandwich was missing something without SOME kind of veggie in it. Then recently the stand switched to using green pepper slivers instead of cilantro, and I LOVE it.
My favorite 肉夹馍 variation was what I used to eat in Hangzhou. The family from Xi’an that made the 肉夹馍 adapted it to the south by using lettuce and zhacai (榨菜), and no cilantro for me, of course.
I was not at all impressed by the 肉夹馍 I had in Xi’an and Yinchuan. Quite disappointing, but it’s still really interesting to see how cuisine evolves when it moves to new regions.
This snack looks and sounds incredibly delicious. I’d love to try to make it at home, but I don’t see any recipes on the Internet. However, you gave lots of good info, so maybe I could play it by ear and end up with something decent. The really hard part would be the bread, seems to me. Anyway — thanks!
Lisa, the hard part is actually the meat itself, which is roasted on a rotisserie spit. Have you ever seen slow-turning spits in Middle Eastern restaurants? The process makes the meat very juicy and caramelized. I haven’t tried making roujiamo at home, but the closest type of meat would propably be a pork roast.
Ah yes — of course it would be difficult to replicate the succulent meat component. Thanks for the tip; I can do my best with a pork roast. About the bread: It looks, in the photo, a little English-muffiny — almost biscuity. Is it at all like that?
The texture of the bun is inbetween an English muffin and pita bread. I would first try to find the fluffiest pita you can get, since English muffins seem a little too porous and breakable.
I saw some mini-pitas at the store today, and they looked rather fluffy. Think that’s what I would try.
Anytime, I’ve eaten Rou Jia Mo in Xi’an the meat has been beef and not pork. And in Lanzhou it was usually lamb.
This cuisine is originally Muslim. They don’t eat pork.
Gosh, this makes me sooo nostalgic for my 家乡! The type I used to have was beef as well, in such a rich (and fattening) stew. YUUUUM.
Gosh, this makes me sooo nostalgic for my 家乡! The type I used to have was beef, cooked in such a rich (and fattening) stew before it was taken out and chopped up for this. YUUUUM.
Wow this reminds me of home. I was born and raised (sort of) in Xi’an and go back every year to snack my way around the beautiful city.
The authentic (Xi’an) recipe is actually boiled pork rather than roasted. I’ve actually never heard of it being roasted until today.
That picture looks nothing like any 肉夹馍 roujiamo I have ever eaten in China and I’ve lived here for 14 years. I studied for two years in Xi’an and virtually lived on the things.
As has been pointed out,they originated in Xi’an’s Muslim community so would never be pork. Xi’an uses beef. Lanzhou tends towards lamb.
The meat is not spit roasted as suggested in another comment and I’ve never met lettuce in a roujiamo. The meat is fried with cumin and chillies. In fact in Xi’an the full name is 肉孜然夹馍 Beef Cumin Bread
What you are eating may taste good, but it is not what I would call roujiamo.
I am living in a District of Harbin in North China. A few weeks ago one of my co-workers ordered a Rou Jia Mo sandwich and I was hooked… eating sometimes 2-3 a day. The bread sits heavy though so I have taken a break. But we are going on vacation here in China and we are going to Xi’an. I can’t WAIT to try them there as they originally came from Xi’an. They are totally addicting.
One of my c0-workers father use to own a shop and made these… I want to take the recipe to america.
My wife & I are chefs in China.
My wife is from Xi’an, and she says the authentic RouJiaMo is boiled not roasted, boiled together with some herbs & spices. There is also a difference between the RouJiaMo made by the muslim community (reddish in color, called “La Niu Rou Jia Mo and brownish in color called “Jiang Niu Rou”) & non-muslim community (more brownish color).
There are many variations of RouJiaMo, 肉孜然夹馍 Beef Cumin Bread is just one kind of variation sold in Xi’an but the RouJiaMo that most represent Xi’an when people talk about Xi’an’s RouJiaMo is the RouJiaMo made by the muslim community, whereby the meat is reddish in color (reddish because the meat has been marinated in salt water for an extended period of time before it is boiled) and call “La Niu Rou Jia Mo”
My father in law in Xi’an always buy me RouJiaMo for breakfast whenever we visit Xi’an, however, I still prefer a burger from BurgerKing
Cheers