Paomo

Paomo

A bowl of paomo served in the cafeteria of Xi'an Jiaotong University
Type	Stew
Place of origin	China
Region or state	Shaanxi
Main ingredients	Bread, lamb broth, lamb meat
Cookbook: Paomo  Media: Paomo

Paomo (Chinese: 泡馍; pinyin: pàomó; literally: "soaked mó") is a specialty of Shaanxi cuisine and is a typical food eaten in the city of Xi'an. It is a hot stew of chopped-up steamed leavened bread (known regionally as mo or mantou, simplified Chinese: 馍; traditional Chinese: 饃; pinyin: mó or simplified Chinese: 馒头; traditional Chinese: 饅頭; pinyin: mántóu), cooked in lamb broth and served with lamb meat, sometimes substituted with beef.

Yangrou Paomo (flat bread soaked in lamb soup; simplified Chinese: 羊肉泡馍; traditional Chinese: 羊肉泡饃; pinyin: Yángròu pàomó) ^[1] is made of lamb soup and a great amount of 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 niurou paomo (simplified Chinese: 牛肉泡馍; traditional Chinese: 牛肉泡饃; pinyin: Niúròu pàomó). Paomo is often eaten with pickled garlic and chili sauce.

Legend

One legend about its origin is that in the late five dynasties in China, Zhao Kuangyin^[2] who became the emperor of the Song Dynasty nation returned to his hometown after seeing his fiancée off. He had consumed most of his food and money on the journey. He had only two pieces of inedible big hard bread. His party went through a shop selling lamb soup and broke the bread in pieces and added it to the soup.

When he became emperor he returned to the small shop and asked the cook to make it again. After the meal, the emperor could not hide his happiness and named it Flat Bread Soaked in Lamb Soup.^[3]

See also

• List of lamb dishes
• List of stews
• List of soups
• Food portal

References

1. "陕西小吃-羊肉泡馍". News.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 2012-05-10.
2. "为天下守财的寒酸皇帝——赵匡胤-新闻-中国网滨海高新". News.022china.com. Retrieved 2012-05-10.
3. "中华美食传说之羊肉泡馍的由来 青岛市 - 新闻 - 网上有名". Top086.com. 2011-04-18. Retrieved 2012-05-10.