''Paomo'' is a popular specialty of
Shaanxi cuisine
Shaanxi cuisine, or Qin cuisine, is derived from the native cooking styles of Shaanxi Province and parts of northwestern China.
Description
Shaanxi cuisine makes elaborate use of ordinary ingredients and is characterized by its noodles, lamb ...
common throughout
Xi'an
Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...
and other cities of
Guanzhong
Guanzhong (, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanised as Kwanchung) region, also known as the Guanzhong Basin, Wei River Basin, or uncommonly as the Shaanzhong region, is a historical region of China corresponding to the crescentic graben str ...
. It is a hot stew of minced steamed leavened flatbread, known regionally as ''mo'' ( zh, s=馍, t=饃, p=mó, labels=no, first=t), cooked and served with lamb or beef.
Lamb ''paomo'' ( zh, s=羊肉泡馍, t=羊肉泡饃, p=yángròu pàomó, labels=no, first=t) is made of lamb soup and a great amount of unleavened flat bread. When making this dish, the cook breaks the bread into small pieces and adds them to the lamb soup. The beef version is beef ''paomo'' ( zh, s=牛肉泡馍, t=牛肉泡饃, p=niúròu pàomó, labels=no, first=t). ''Paomo'' is often eaten with
pickled garlic and
chili sauce
Chili sauce and chili paste are condiments prepared with chili peppers.
Chili sauce may be hot, sweet or a combination thereof, and may differ from hot sauce in that many sweet or mild varieties exist, which is typically lacking in hot sauce ...
.
Production
The used in is a type of
shaobing
Shaobing ( zh, p=shāobǐng, w=shao-ping), also called huoshao, is a type of baked, unleavened, layered flatbread in northern Chinese cuisine. Shaobing can be made with or without stuffing, and with or without sesame on top. Shaobing contains a ...
, baked from unleavened flour. Lamb or beef is boiled with bones,
Sichuan pepper
Sichuan pepper (, also known as Sichuanese pepper, Szechuan pepper, Chinese prickly ash, Chinese pepper, Mountain pepper, and ''mala'' pepper, is a spice commonly used in Sichuan cuisine in China, Bhutan and in northeast India. It is called mej ...
,
star anise
''Illicium verum'' (star anise or badian, Chinese star anise, star anise seed, star aniseed and star of anise) is a medium-sized evergreen tree native to South China and northeast Vietnam. Its star-shaped pericarps harvested just before ripen ...
,
tsaoko,
cinnamon
Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, biscuits, b ...
, and other spices until the meat is tender and the broth is done. In traditional restaurants, customers must break up the bread themselves first into thumb-sized chunks before handing it back to the chef. The restaurant then boils the broth, thins it with hot water, and adds in the prepared meat along with
cellophane noodles
Glass noodles, or fensi (), sometimes called cellophane noodles, are a type of transparent noodle made from starch (such as mung bean starch, potato starch, sweet potato starch, tapioca, or canna (plant), canna starch) and water. They originated ...
. After the soup is heated up, the broken-up bread is added in before being topped off with spices and a drizzle of lamb oil. Customers may then add chili oil, cilantro, or garlic to their liking. The garlic is sometimes pickled in a sour-sweet vinegar and sugar concoction.
Gallery
File:Yangroupaomo2.jpg, Prepared lamb .
File:Yangroupaomo01.jpg, The before and after it is broken up.
File:Yangroupaomo3.jpg, The broth used in .
File:陕西羊肉泡馍.png, A spoonful of meat and .
File:羊肉泡馍（xi’an）.jpg, beef paomo
Legends
One folktale about its origin is that in the late
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period,
Zhao Kuangyin,
the
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
's first emperor, returned to his hometown after seeing his betrothed. He had finished up most of his supply on the way back. He had only two pieces of dried plain pancake. He went through a merchant selling lamb soup; Zhao tore the bread into little pieces and mixed it into the soup.
After Zhao Kuangyin became the emperor, he returned to the small merchant place and asked the chief to make the soup again. After eating this old flavor, the freshness and the old memory interwind his heart. He named it "lamb paomo".
See also
*
List of lamb dishes
This is a list of the popular lamb and mutton dishes and foods worldwide. Lamb and mutton are terms for the meat of domestic sheep (species ''Ovis aries'') at different ages. A sheep in its first year is called a lamb, and its meat is also called ...
*
List of stews
This is a list of notable stews. A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables, such as carrots, potatoes, bea ...
*
List of soups
This is a list of notable soups. Soups have been made since ancient times.
Some soups are served with large chunks of meat or vegetables left in the liquid, while others are served as a broth. A broth is a flavored liquid usually derived from ...
*
References
{{reflist
Chinese noodles
Shaanxi cuisine
Lamb dishes
Bread soups
Chinese soups and stews
Chinese meat dishes