Chinese · Shaanxi · snack

Rou Jia Mo (Shaanxi Chopped Pork in a Bun)

Rou Jia Mo (Shaanxi Chopped Pork in a Bun) reads umami 6.9, salinity 5.6 and richness 5.5 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Chinese · Shaanxi snack, about 3 hr 54 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 7.8 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 4.5 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 1.4 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 1.9 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 5.8 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 5.6 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 6.9 · Salinity 5.6 · Richness 5.5 · Warm Spice 4.8 · Sweetness 4.3 · Funk & Ferment 3.4 · Heat 2.7 · Allium 2.5 · Floral 2.4 · Herbaceous 2.3 · Smoke 1.6 · Citrus 1.2 · Earthy 1.2 · Bitterness 1.0 · Nutty 0.9 · Fruity 0.7 · Sourness 0.7

What's in it (23)

• pork belly — 1000 g
• water — 2500 g
• freshly ground star anise — 300 g
• cassia
• fennel seed — 15 g
• cloves — 12 g
• bay leaf — 1 g
• sand ginger — 56 g
• black cardamom pod — 100 g
• sichuan pepper — 5 g
• dried red chillies — 20 g
• shaoxing wine — 100 g
• soy sauce — 60 g
• soy sauce — 30 g
• sugar — 50 g
• fresh ginger — 40 g
• spring onions — 330 g
• salt — 15 g
• all-purpose flour — 400 g
• yeast — 4 g
• water — 240 g
• salt — 5 g
• green chilies — 200 g

Time & effort: about 3 hr 54 min (2 hr 54 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 150 kcal, 3.8 g protein, 10.8 g fat, 10.5 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (6 steps)

1. Blanch the pork in boiling water 4 minutes, drain and rinse. Put it in a pot with the water, spice bag, dried chillies, Shaoxing wine, both soy sauces, rock sugar, ginger, spring onions and salt. Bring to the boil, skim, then cover and simmer very gently 2 to 2.5 hours, until the meat gives completely and the skin is sticky. Leave it in the liquid to cool. This la zhi rou is a perpetual braise in Xi'an: the liquid is kept and reused, and it gets better with age.
2. Meanwhile make the mo. Mix the flour, yeast, dough salt and warm water into a firm dough, knead 10 minutes until smooth, and prove 1 hour, until not quite doubled. Shaanxi bai ji mo is a lean, tight dough and should feel stiffer than the bread doughs you are used to.
3. Divide into 8, roll each into a rope, coil it like a snail shell, then flatten and roll to a disc 10 cm across and 1.5 cm thick. Rest 15 minutes.
4. Cook the discs in a dry heavy pan over medium-low heat, 4 to 5 minutes a side, pressing lightly, until scorched in concentric rings and hollow-sounding when tapped. Finish them 5 minutes in a 200 C oven if the middles are still doughy. Properly made, they split into two leaves under a knife.
5. Lift the pork out and chop meat, fat and skin together on a board with a heavy cleaver, adding a few spoonfuls of the braising liquid as you go, until it is a rough, glistening mince. Chopped, never shredded.
6. Split each bun most of the way through, stuff it hard with the chopped pork, push in the green chilli and coriander, and eat immediately, standing up, over a plate.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Twice-Cooked Pork Belly (Huiguorou) — Chinese · Sichuan
• Big Plate Chicken (Da Pan Ji) — Chinese · Xinjiang
• Chairman Mao's Red-Braised Pork (Mao Shi Hong Shao Rou) — Chinese · Hunan
• Red-Braised Pork Belly (红烧肉) — Chinese
• Master Stock Beef Shank and Eggs (Lou Seui Ngau Jin) — Chinese · Cantonese

Keep reading: what umami, salinity, richness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.