Did you know the Chinese Hamburger, or Rou Jia Mo (肉夹馍), was named Shaanxi Province’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of 2016? So the title doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but regardless, I’d say it’s a well-deserved honor!
From the Cuisine of Shaanxi Province
Many have not heard much about Shaanxi province in China, but you may have heard of its capital city, Xi’An, where you can find the legendary terracotta warriors.
For those of us who have visited Xi’an, we’ve had the chance to sample the amazing food there firsthand: Biang Noodles, Yang Rou Pao Mo (羊肉泡馍), Rou Jia Mo (肉夹馍), and many others.
A few years ago, we visited Muslim Street, i.e., Xi’An’s street food heaven. I’m still drooling over the photos of all the delicious snacks we gorged ourselves on.
What Is Rou Jia Mo?
The direct translation for Rou Jia Mo (肉夹馍) is “meat in a bun,” which sort of makes it similar to what we’d think of as a hamburger, or maybe a Chinese sloppy joe. So there’s the meat, and there’s the bun. Let’s talk about both.
After a bit of research, the meat filling is what’s called La Zhi Rou, 腊汁肉,which dates back over two thousand years! Pretty mind boggling that the Chinese were noshing on this delectable pork belly thousands of years ago.
I’m not sure though if La Zhi Rou was eaten as is, perhaps with rice, or in a bun, which led me to ponder the question: who was the original sandwich creator? The Chinese Earl of Sandwich, if you will.
The bun, aka “mo, 馍,” (the Northerners’ word for mantou, 馒头) is the Northern provinces’ main source of starch, rather than rice. Some “mo” are steamed and others are baked. In this case, the mo is baked in a wok or pan with the lid on.
In case you’re wondering, in China, Northerners and Southerners each have their own diet, their own customs, and their own words in many cases. For example, Northerners call their father “Da, 大” or Die,爹” and it’s “Ba, 爸” for the Southerners. Fun facts!
Expanding Perceptions of Chinese Cuisine In America
That said, I’ve witnessed the transformation of Chinese cuisine in America over the past thirty years. Chinese food is no longer limited to takeout and the formerly dominant Cantonese cuisine, which so many people simply recognized as “Chinese food.”
Now dishes from Sichuan (川菜)Shanghai (浙菜), Hunan (湘菜) and Shaanxi (秦菜) are represented under a much broader, and more accurate representation of what Chinese food is.
One of the stars of Shaanxi cuisine, Rou Jia Mo (Chinese hamburger), seems to be gaining momentum in the Western culinary world. All I know for sure is that more choices means more to eat, and I couldn’t be happier about that!
Recipe Notes
A few side notes before we get started:
- I’d encourage you to try cooking the meat the day before you’re looking to serve it, in order to let the sauce soak in overnight and intensify the flavors. Heat it up the next day before serving.
- Don’t overcook the pork belly. If it’s too soft, you won’t get that “sink your teeth into it” experience!
- If you like it spicy, chop one or two raw jalapeno peppers finely, and mix in with the meat mixture. You could get really crazy and use pickled banana peppers too!
- If you have leftover buns, store them in a zip-lock bag to prevent them from drying out.
- And if you only want to make the meat filling and use a hamburger bun or a Kaiser roll instead, you wouldn’t hurt my feelings in the least. :)
Rou Jia Mo: Recipe Instructions
Keep the pork belly whole, or cut it into large, 4- to 5-inch chunks. Place the pork belly in a medium pot, and fill it with just enough water to cover it. Bring the water to a boil.
Once the pork has gone opaque and appears cooked on the outside, shut off the heat, remove the pork from the pot, and rinse it clean under running water. Dump out the water and clean the pot.
Put the pork belly back in the clean pot, and add 3 cups of water, the Shaoxing wine, rock sugar, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, scallions, ginger, star anise, cinnamon stick, black cardamom pod (tsaoko), galangal or sand ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, and bay leaves.
Bring everything to a boil, then immediately turn down the heat to low and simmer for 90 minutes to 2 hours, until fork tender. To test it, stick a fork into the meat. It’s done if you can pull the fork out easily. Do not use high heat when simmering to avoid drying out the sauce. Add salt to taste.
While the pork is simmering, make the buns for your Chinese hamburgers. To a mixing bowl, add the flour, yeast, and salt. Slowly add the warm water, mixing and kneading until it forms a smooth dough ball. Once a dough ball is formed, knead it for another 10 minutes to build up the gluten in the dough–this will make the buns chewier.
You can also use an electric mixer with the dough hook attachment for this. The dough should feel soft and easy to work with. Cover the dough, and let it proof at room temperature for about an hour until it doubles in size.
After proofing, knead the dough for about 5 minutes to get rid of any air bubbles. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Cover the dough balls with a kitchen towel to prevent them from drying out while you’re shaping the buns.
To shape the buns, take each dough ball and roll it out into a cigar-like shape. Next, roll it out into a longer and narrower strip…
And fold it in half lengthwise.
Roll it up into a bundle, with the loose end tucked underneath.
Turn it on its side, so that the swirls are facing up.
Press it down with your palm.
Now roll it out into a disc about 4 inches in diameter. Repeat these steps for all of the dough balls. Cover the shaped buns with a dry kitchen towel, and let rest for 20 minutes before cooking.
Pre-heat a flat-bottomed pan or cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Place the buns in the pan about an inch apart (no oil is necessary). Cover the lid, and let the buns cook for 2 minutes on each side. The heat shouldn’t be too high, or your buns may burn. No one likes burned buns. After cooking the buns for 2 minutes on each side, remove the lid, and cook each side for another minute or so until the entire bun is golden brown.
Continue in batches until the buns are all cooked.
To serve, take out the pork, coarsely chop it, and transfer it to a bowl. Mix in the chopped cilantro, and add the sauce from the meat to your desired consistency.
Think Asian sloppy joe–you could go really saucy or have a drier sandwich. Toss everything together, slice open a bun, load the meat inside…
And it’s time to sink your teeth into this scrumptious little bundle of porky goodness, Rou Jia Mo Chinese Hamburger.
Chinese Hamburger, Rou Jia Mo 肉夹馍
Ingredients
For the meat:
- 2 pounds pork belly
- 3 cups water
- ¼ cup Shaoxing wine
- 12 grams rock sugar (or 1 tablespoon granulated sugar)
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 4 scallions (cut in half)
- 3 slices ginger
- 2 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 black cardamom pod
- 2 pieces galangal (or sand ginger)
- 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
- 3 bay leaves
- Salt (to taste)
- 1 cup chopped cilantro
For the buns:
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour (by weight, each cup is equivalent to 150 grams)
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast (about 8 grams)
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 to 1¼ cups warm water (depending on humidity)
Instructions
- Keep the pork belly whole, or cut it into large, 4- to 5-inch chunks. Place the pork belly in a medium pot, and fill it with just enough water to cover it. Bring the water to a boil. Once the pork has gone opaque and appears cooked on the outside, shut off the heat, remove the pork from the pot, and rinse it clean under running water. Dump out the water and clean the pot.
- Put the pork belly back in the clean pot, and add 3 cups of water, the Shaoxing wine, rock sugar, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, scallions, ginger, star anise, cinnamon, black cardamom, galangal, Sichuan peppercorns, and bay leaves. Bring everything to a boil, then immediately turn down the heat to low and simmer for 90 minutes to 2 hours, until fork tender. To test it, stick a fork into the meat. It’s done if you can pull the fork out easily. Do not use high heat when simmering to avoid drying out the sauce. Add salt to taste.
- While the pork is simmering, make the buns. To a mixing bowl, add the flour, yeast, and salt. Slowly add the warm water, mixing and kneading until it forms a smooth dough ball. Once a dough ball is formed, knead it for another 10 minutes to build up the gluten in the dough--this will make the buns chewier. You can also use an electric mixer with the dough hook attachment for this. The dough should feel soft and easy to work with. Cover the dough, and let it proof at room temperature for about an hour until it doubles in size.
- After proofing, knead the dough for about 5 minutes to get rid of any air bubbles. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Cover the dough balls with a kitchen towel to prevent them from drying out while you’re shaping the buns.
- To shape the buns, take each dough ball and roll it out into a cigar-like shape. Next, roll it out into a longer and narrower strip, and fold it in half lengthwise. Roll it up into a bundle, with the loose end tucked underneath. Turn it on its side so the swirls are facing up, and press it down with your palm. Now roll it out into a disc about 4 inches in diameter. Repeat these steps for all of the dough balls. Cover the shaped buns with a dry kitchen towel, and let rest for 20 minutes before cooking.
- Pre-heat a flat-bottomed pan or cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Place the buns in the pan about an inch apart (no oil is necessary). Cover the lid, and let the buns cook for 2 minutes on each side. The heat shouldn’t be too high, or your buns may burn. After cooking the buns for 2 minutes on each side, remove the lid, and cook each side for another minute or so until the entire bun is golden brown.
- To serve, take out the pork, coarsely chop it, and transfer it to a bowl. Mix in the chopped cilantro, and add the sauce from the meat to your desired consistency. Think Asian sloppy joe--you could go really saucy or have a drier sandwich. Toss everything together, slice open a bun, load the meat inside, and serve.
nutrition facts
Hello – Could you recommend a substitute for the cilantro? Or simply leave it out?
Hi Elaine, you can omit it, or you can replace it with some raw onion. It depends on your preference.
Judy, thank you for sharing this recipe! two quick questions, about the pork belly, if you don’t mind…
1) I assume the belly should be skin-OFF?
2) But, there should be some fat still on the meat, right? From my years in China I remember this being rather moist, in part because of the sauce but also because of the wonderfully decadent pork fat…
Thank you!
Hi James, the pork belly should have the skin on (or no skin if that’s how they are sold, no biggie). As for pork fat, there definitely should be pork fat, as it keeps everything moist and tasty :-)
Since I had a craving for this (and my husband and I bought some pork belly last week), I looked up your recipe and made it for dinner tonight. Thank you for all the recipes on this site, because it allows me to make Chinese food that my mother and grandmother haven’t taught me and I don’t have to constantly call them to ask.
Hahaha…you should still call them! They want to feel that they are still helpful to you :-)
Can you use a crock pot instead? Like a pulled pork situation and add all the ingredients while slow cooking ?
Yes, you can.
I’ve been cooking different dishes from this site throughout quarantine and so many of them turned out incredibly successful!
This one, on the other hand, I struggled with a lot. I had a hard time with the buns, though I think that’s on me, and my pork ended up pretty flavorless and tasted like nothing but pork fat. I’m not sure if I managed to boil out all the flavor from the pork (though I had better luck with other braised recipes) or if I should double or triple the spices next time, but I think I’ll be making this with pork shoulder next time.
Hehehe…you can’t boil away the flavor from the pork belly. There are also a lot of soy sauces and aromatics to flavor the pork belly ;-) that’s why I can’t explain why you experienced a “flavorless” result.
Just wanted to say thank you for this recipe. My husband grew up near Xi’an and he’s been telling me about this juicy, flavourful pork in a bun that he used to have there. I’ve been looking for a recipe for years, but had no luck until I found this. I cooked this dish to surprise him and he loved it, in fact the whole family loved it. So a big thank you from us! /Sara
Don’t know much about Chinese recipes but as you have written this recipe; seems authentic and pure Chinese taste. Thanks for the recipe.
Farhat…https://www.bakingnfrosting.com/2020/10/italian-sprinkle-cookies-recipe.html?m=1
Thank you for your input, Farhat.
Do you think this meat could be cooked in an instant pot? What setting/time would you suggest? I’m trying it as written this time, but would love a quicker version for next time!
Hi Megan, you can use our instant pot pork belly recipe as a guideline for cooking time and setting: Braised Instant Pot Pork Belly and Instant Pot Braised Pork Buns.
Thanks! I did it in the IP and it was awesome! I have made it a couple times (my husband is from Shaanxi!) And we like it best when the spices and flavors are doubled. Also, I use English muffins! Not the same, of course, but close enough!
Great, Megan, thank you for your input.
Hi, just wanted to say thank you for this recipe. My husband grew up near Xi’an and always tells me about this juicy, flavourful pork burger he used to have when he was a child. I’ve been looking for a recipe for years, but never found one until now. I cooked this and surprised him, and he loved it! The kids loved too. Thank you!
Wow, what a story! I’m so glad he can have a taste from his childhood :-)
I got so excited that I posted my comment twice🙂
Hahaha…no worries :-)
This looks amazing!
My husband and were in Xi’an recently and were very intrigued by the cuisine over there; how they evolved over the century when Chinese settlers brought food ideas and use of spices to other countries in the Southeast Asia.
We tasted the Ro Jia Mo for the first time over there and I’ll be sure to try out this interesting recipe!
Thanks for posting :)
I know you will enjoy it, Esther. BTW, if you search “Xi’an” in our search bar, you will find our other Xi’an travel posts and recipes from that region. Happy reading :-)
Hello Dear Judy.
My girlfriend and I prefer eat the burger for breakfast.
Is it possible to make the bun dough the day before before going to bed!?
Regards from France
Yes, you can. Just toast the buns before serving.
Hi,
I had one of these at Oxford covered market but I chose beef which I prefer. It was one of the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten. The meat seemed like finely diced steak rather than braised brisket.
Are you aware of this style and how I can make it?
Kind regards
Hi Alex, you can cook this recipe with beef chuck, a cut of beef I like to use for stews. You might have to increase the cooking time for beef.
Its disrespectful to call this dish a “Hamburger” is this the only way Americans can relate to something different? A pulled pork or beef bbq sandwich would be more accurate.
Hi Xian, I can’t claim to be the creator of this name. You are right, I shouldn’t “go with the flow”.
any idea if this could be done in an instant pot?
Yes, you can! Please refer to our Braised Pork Belly in a Instant Pot.
I agree. Chinese Hamburg sounds ” so authentic”!
Actually this is also called a 中国汉堡包 (Zhōng guó hàn bǎo bāo) in China which directly translates as a Chinese hamburger.
I am currently making this as I write this message as I miss eating them so much!
did it taste authentic?
I can assure you ;-)