Rou Jia Mo – the delicious Beef Sandwich in Xian, China

One of the local street foods you can’t miss to try in Xian of China is surely the Chinese version of Turkish Kebab called Rou Jia Mo (肉夹馍 in Chinese). Originated in Shaanxi province and historically influenced the Middle Eastern style of meat sandwich through the historic Silk road, Rou Jia Mo is a round flatbread or Pita bread stuffed with various seasoned meat with gravy.

Unlike Turkish Kebab which stuffed with sliced grilled meat, Rou Jia Mo’s meat filling are normally stewed for hours in soup until becoming really soft and flavory with gravy. There are too many stalls and shops selling Rou Jia Mo in Xian, and with full varieties of meats ranges from pork, chicken, beef to lamb.

I had my first pork Rou Jia Mo in Xian North railway station on my first day in Xian and immediately couldn’t help falling for it! I couldn’t remember how many of them I have had in there.

In Xi’an Muslim Quarter, we can find the Halal version of Rou Jia Mo which served with either stewed beef or lamb (no pork for Muslim). Along the Beiyuanmen Muslim food market, you can always spot the long queue in front of a muslim restaurant. People are queuing up not to get into the restaurant but for the famous beef Rou Jia Mo from this restaurant called Lao Bai Jia (老白家).

Though the price is more expensive than average 6 Yuan elsewhere, Lao Bai Jia Rou Jia Mo has a bigger portion with densely stuffed beef and comes with a free cup of sour plum juice.

Rou Jia Mo is the best snack between meals when exploring Xian as you can find them every other corner. Just grab it before visiting the top 10 tourist places in Xian so you won’t have a chance of empty stomach! 🙂

Have you got the hint? I’m going to share more of the “Mouth Watering” foods you must try in Xian in my upcoming posts. Keep watching this travel photo blog! 🙂 – Travel Feeder

About The Author

Cecil Lee

The author is an avid traveler and photography hobbyist who loves to share with others his travel and photo-taking experience in many popular tourist destinations around Europe, Asia and Australasia. Read the exciting stories with many photos captured on his journeys.