Recipe for Rou Jia Mo--Chinese Food?

Question

Does anyone have a recipe for Rou Jia Mo? It's a street food in China, but I'd really like to make it at home since I won't get to China any time soon!

Answer 1

Sorry, maybe you have mis-spelled the name, that's ok if you're unfamiliar with how Mandarin words are pronounced, as I can only figure out it probably has something to do with meat (rou). One problem is that a different phonetic tone in Mandarin can mean a totally different word.

Can you describe what it looks like, tastes like, how is it served, any accompaniments etc? Do you know what kind of meat it was and whether sliced or minced ? Which part of China did you see it? There's lots of street food in China, with some distinct to particular regions.

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Edit: Though I've not tried it before, understand it originates from Xi'an in Shanxi Province. Essentially just a pan-fried bread used to hold pieces of braised spiced pork. Below is a rough recipe which I've tried to translate the essence from a Chinese webpage & add some more instructions, based on own experience of Chinese cooking, where I felt there was not enough detail.

Ingredients for bread:

300g plain flour, 20g baking powder, some warm water.

1. Mix all ingredients together & knead to form a dough. Cover with a cloth to rest for 40-50 mins. Ensure the dough rises as much as possible.

2. Divide dough into 6 portions and flatten each piece into a round disc.

3. Heat up a non-stick frying pan without adding oil. Place the dough discs in the pan & use a toothpick to poke 9 holes in the surface on both sides. Cover the pan, watch that the bread does not get burnt. Cook a few minutes per side.

4. The bread will continue to expand slightly. (Remove when nicely browned & it feels spongy).

5a) As for the pork, don't use lean meat but those cuts with some fat like belly pork.

5b) Cut the pork into small pieces & put into a pot. Add ground star anise, one piece of cinnamon bark, some dark soya sauce, a bit of white sugar & salt (The recipe did not specify the exact amounts for the meat & its seasonings. I would think between 500g to 1kg of meat. Suggest start with 1 tsp powdered spice, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sugar & 1/2 to 1 tsp salt, then adjust for your own taste). (Note: Besides the above ingredients from the recipe, alternative to star anise powder & cinnamon is to use 5-spice powder. For more fragrance, add a dash of white pepper, a few drops of sesame oil, 1-2 crushed whole garlic cloves & some Chinese cooking wine or Japanese mirin).

5c) Mix well and add enough water to just cover the meat.

5d) Bring to a boil and then cover the pot & simmer for about 25 mins. If there is still too much water, you can reduce down the gravy until thick by further boiling. The meat should be very tender by now.

Just slice the bread almost into 2 to form pockets and stuff pieces of meat inside with a bit of gravy. Enjoy!

Hope this is of some help, though no guarantees of absolute translation accuracy! You'll find some Chinese recipes are not exact which makes non-cooks & non-Asians tear their hair out but as long as you know the basic ingredients used, after some trial & error you can find the taste you're looking for. Have fun!