What Is Roujiamo? 肉夹馍 Explained

Find your next discovery

Search the atlas

Search by English name, Chinese name, region or meal.

Shaanxi · Street food

Roujiamo

肉夹馍

ròu jiā mó

Shaanxi’s crisp flatbread filled with finely chopped, long-braised meat.

Three Xi’an-style roujiamo flatbreads filled with braised meat
Photo: Chinese Food Atlas · Not licensed for reuse
FromShaanxi
Eating occasionSnack
Dish typeStreet food
FlavorSavory · Aromatic

01

What is Roujiamo?

Often casually called a Chinese hamburger, roujiamo has a character all its own. The bread is toasted until crisp outside and chewy within, then split and packed with fragrant chopped meat and its juices.

02

Flavor profile

Savory · Aromatic

Shaanxi’s crisp flatbread filled with finely chopped, long-braised meat.

03

Key ingredients

Wheat flatbread and long-braised pork; Muslim versions commonly use beef or lamb.

This is a food guide, not a recipe. Ingredients and preparation vary between cooks, shops and cities.

04

How it is usually made

The meat is braised until tender, chopped to order and tucked into a freshly warmed flatbread. The best versions balance bread texture with just enough meat juices to perfume the bun without making it soggy.

05

Origin and food culture

Roujiamo is strongly associated with Shaanxi and Xi’an, a city shaped by wheat agriculture, old trade routes and Muslim food traditions. Its exact lineage is old and layered, but the modern street-food form is unmistakably local.

It is often translated as “Chinese hamburger”, which helps visitors understand the format but hides the regional logic: wheat bread, braised meat and spice aromas from northwest China.