| Paomo | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Lamb paomo | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 泡饃 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 泡馍 | ||||||
| Literal meaning | soaked mó | ||||||
| |||||||
 A bowl of paomo served in the cafeteria ofXi'an Jiaotong University | |
| Type | Stew |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | China |
| Region or state | Shaanxi |
| Main ingredients | Bread, lambbroth,lamb meat |
Paomo is a popular specialty ofShaanxi cuisine common throughoutXi'an and other cities ofGuanzhong. It is a hot stew of minced steamed leavened flatbread, known regionally asmo (饃;馍;mó), cooked and served with lamb or beef.
Lambpaomo (羊肉泡饃;羊肉泡馍;yángròu pàomó)[1] 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 beefpaomo (牛肉泡饃;牛肉泡馍;niúròu pàomó).Paomo is often eaten withpickled garlic andchili sauce.
Themo used inpaomo is a type ofshaobing, baked from unleavened flour. Lamb or beef is boiled with bones,Sichuan pepper,star anise,tsaoko,cinnamon, 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 withcellophane noodles. 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.
One folktale about its origin is that in the lateFive Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period,Zhao Kuangyin,[2] theSong dynasty'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".
