🍽️ Roujiamo

Stewed meat in a bun, fatty but not greasy.

Roujiamo is Xi'an's most iconic street snack of Shaanxi. A baked bun is griddled until tiger-striped, crisp outside, soft within, then stuffed with lazhi pork, pork slow-braised in a spiced master stock until melting. The meat is fat-and-lean, falling apart and deeply aromatic; the bun soaks up the gravy, crisp outside and airy inside. Xi'an versions prize a crisp bun and fall-apart meat, best when fresh-baked and hot, often paired with a local soda or a bowl of cold noodles. Dubbed a Chinese hamburger, it is an all-day comfort for Xi'an locals, rich with juice in every bite.