If you love burgers, you might want to give roujiamo a try. Roujiamo is a Chinese sandwich of pork and flatbread that dates back to ancient times. It is associated with Xi’an, a city on the Silk Road, and has many regional variations. The pork is braised with spices and chopped with coriander, while the bread is baked in a clay oven. The result is a crunchy, juicy and fragrant bite that will make you rethink your definition of a burger.
Roujiamo is considered to be one of the world’s oldest types of hamburgers, since the bread or the “mo” dates back to the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and the meat to the Zhou dynasty (1045–256 BC). The sandwich is closely related to the culture and history of Xi’an, which was both the eastern terminus of the Silk Road and the capital for 13 more-or-less successive Chinese dynasties. The meat preparation used to make the filling for roujiamo is traditionally traced back to the Warring States period (475 to 221 BCE), while the introduction of Central Asian-style flatbreads into China is often credited to Ban Chao, a Chinese general who spent more than 30 years battling a confederation of nomadic tribes during the 1st Century to regain control of the farthest western reaches of China.
The key to a good roujiamo is the lazhi (腊汁), or stock, which includes a list of spices that reads like the cargo manifest for a Silk Road caravan: ginger, star anise, cassia, Sichuan peppercorn, loquat and two medicinal herbs called Fructus Amomi and Lanxangia tsaoko (all originally domesticated in China); dried tangerine peel (likely domesticated in the Indo-Burma region); white pepper, sand ginger and cardamom (from South India); cumin (from Western Asia); and nutmeg and clove (from the Spice Islands of Indonesia), to name just the most common ones. The stock is used to braise fatty cuts of pork, such as belly or shoulder, until they are tender and falling apart. Then, the meat is chopped with fresh coriander and some of the broth, creating a moist and aromatic mixture.
The bread for roujiamo is made from wheat flour and water, kneaded into a dough and left to rise. Then, it is shaped into thin discs and slapped onto the inside walls of a clay oven called a mozi (馍子), where they bake until golden and crisp. The bread is then split open and stuffed with the pork filling, creating a contrast of textures and flavors.
Roujiamo is not only delicious, but also versatile. You can find different versions of it across China, using different meats, such as beef, lamb or chicken, or even vegetarian fillings, such as tofu or mushrooms. Some regions also add other ingredients to the sandwich, such as pickled vegetables, chili sauce or sesame paste. As one blogger puts it: “Roujiamo at its best is a primal thing. Cooked and sold in the elements, it’s a street food that comes wreathed in an aura of ancient dynasties, the Silk Road and far-off desert frontiers.”