The famous Xi’an burger – or roujiamo, which means meat in the mo (bun) – should top your must-try food list when visiting Xi’an. It’s a perfect mix of succulent and slow-cooked meat, served inside a crisp and fluffy bun or mo. It is in fact very much the Chinese equivalent of a ‘burger’ and could well be regarded as the precursor to what we in the West think of like a burger. As lovers of these delicious buns, we defy you to eat just one while in Xi’an. The meat is braised in a marinade for many hours, and then shredded, and the buns, which are larger in size but similar in shape to a traditional English muffin, are baked in a traditional wood-fired oven. There is a vegetarian equivalent called caijiamo, so if you’re not a meat-eater, you can still enjoy this local specialty.
Update: August 11, 2021