Umami Cooking

Meaty with a dash of veggies

Chinese hamburger (rou jia mo)

Lightly crisp buns are split and stuffed with chopped pork belly that had been braised to perfect tenderness. Adding cilantro to the pork filling gives the snack a richer flavor and aroma.

Chinese hamburger (rou jia mo)

Bread / quick bread+ Pork recipe by

Cook’s notes

It’s street food in China. A snack rather than a full meal. Its American nickname, Chinese hamburger, doesn’t really describe it with justice but, at least, it gives you an idea that it is a dish of meat nestled inside a bun.
But despite being a meat and bun combo, rou jia mo — which literally translates to “meat in a bun” — is nothing like hamburger. The filling isn’t a meat patty but, rather, chopped braised pork belly drizzled with some of its cooking liquid and tossed with cilantro. The flavor is magnificent. That’s what you get with long and slow cooking.
But it isn’t just flavor that makes this snack so good. It’s the texture of the bread too that’s crispy outside and lightly chewy inside. I could sing praises until you roll your eyes with boredom so I won’t.
When my daughter, Alex, volunteered to make rou jia mo at home, she did not expect to feel so tired by the time she served the sandwiches. So, yes, this is a rather complicated cooking project. Not for newbies as it involves not only braising pork belly to make the filling but making the bread too.
But if you’re up for the challenge, you will reap the unforgettable reward of eating something so good and you’ll realize that it’s worth all the effort.
The cooking process outlined below involves multi-tasking. If it sounds like too much work, I suggest that you cook the pork a day ahead, and let it steep in the cooking liquid overnight in the fridge. Make the buns the next day. Reheat the pork, chop and stuff into the slit buns.

Chinese hamburger (rou jia mo)

Prep: 1 hour
Cook: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total: 2 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 10 sandwiches
Course: Sandwich, Snack
Cuisine: Chinese
Label: Pork belly
Print recipe Subscribe

Ingredients

To parboil the pork

  • 1 kilogram pork belly cut into two-inch cubes
  • 4 slices ginger
  • 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns toasted in an oil-free pan
  • 2 tablespoons Shao Xing rice wine

To braise the pork belly

  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil
  • 2 shallots peeled and chopped
  • 1 two-inch knob ginger peeled and chopped
  • 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns toasted in an oil-free pan
  • 3 to 4 slices galangal (dried is used here)
  • 6 cloves
  • 1 stick cinnamon
  • 2 to 3 star anise
  • 1 nutmeg
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon chili flakes
  • 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
  • ¼ cup white sugar
  • salt to taste

To make the buns

  • 2 teaspoons instant dry yeast
  • 1 ¼ cups lukewarm water
  • 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

To complete the sandwiches

  • chopped cilantro

Instructions

Parboil the pork

  1. Pour about six cups of water into a pot and heat.
  2. Add the ginger, Sichuan peppercorns and Shao Xing wine.
    Adding ginger, Sichuan peppercorns and Shao Xing wine to water for parboiling pork belly
  3. When the water boils, drop in the pork belly and stir to separate. Allow to boil, uncovered, for about ten minutes.
  4. Scoop out the pork and place in a strainer.
  5. Rinse under the tap to remove all impurities.
  6. Spread the rinsed pork in a kitchen towel and rub to remove surface moisture.

Braise the pork

  1. Brush cooking oil in a pan or wok and spread the pork belly.
  2. Cook the pork belly cubes, turning them occasionally, until the surface is browned.
    Sauteeing parboiled pork with shallot and ginger
  3. Add the chopped shallots and ginger. Cook, stirring often, until aromatic.
  4. Add all the spices, soy sauces, sugar and enough water to cover.
    The spices for braising pork belly to make Chinese hamburger
  5. Cover the pan, set the heat to low and cook the pork until tender.

Make the buns

  1. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and leave for a few minutes.
    Mixing water, yeast, oil and salt to make a dough
  2. Place the flour in a mixing bowl. Add the salt, oil and the yeast-water mixture.
  3. Mix until all the liquid has been absorbed.
  4. Transfer the dough to your work surface and knead until smooth or use a stand mixer with the dough hook attached.
  5. Form the dough into a ball, drop into a bowl, cover the bowl with a kitchen towel or a cheesecloth and leave to double in volume.
  6. Dump your dough onto your work surface and divide into ten portions.
    Forming dough into balls
  7. Roll each portion into a ball.
  8. Flatten each ball with your fingers. With a rolling pin, roll into an oblong about a quarter inch in thickness.
    Rolling flattened dough jelly-roll style
  9. Take one short end of the flattened dough, fold in and roll until you reach the other short end.
  10. With your hands, roll the dough against your work surface until double in length.
  11. Take one end, fold in and roll until only about an inch of the other short end is exposed. Pull the visible end and tuck it in by folding it underneath.
    Making bread for rou jia mo (Chinese hamburger)
  12. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls.
  13. Take your rolled dough and flatten with your fingers to form discs about four inches in diameter.
    Flattening dough before pan frying
  14. Arrange all the formed dough on a tray, cover with a kitchen towel and rest for 10 minutes.
  15. Place a thick-bottomed frying pan on the stove and set the heat to medium-low.
  16. Arrange the discs of dough on the heated pan at least an inch apart (they will expand so keep them apart).
  17. Cover the pan and cook the buns for about two minutes. Flip, the buns, cover and cook the opposite sides for another two minutes.
  18. Remove the cover and cook each side for one minute.

Assemble the rou jia mo

  1. Scoop the pork into a chopping board and cut into small pieces.
    Mixing chopped braised pork belly with cilantro
  2. Place the chopped pork into a bowl, drizzle in a few tablespoons of the cooking liquid to moisten, add chopped cilantro and toss well.
  3. Slit the buns to form pockets.
    Stuffing a bun with minced pork belly
  4. Spoon the pork into the pockets.
  5. Serve the pork-filled buns immediately.
    Chinese hamburger (rou jia mo)
Print recipe Subscribe

Join Umami Art Club!

Umami Art Club

My recipes and my daughter’s original art work (no AI) in a monthly snail mail service for foodies who like to own beautiful (but never useless) things.

Members get a recipe card, a companion letter, stickers, stationery, postcard, word puzzle and a loyalty card to collect freebies and discounts.

We send mail worldwide.

Get the details!

Meaty with a dash of veggies