Yangrou Paomo

[marlena spieler]

i was reading a description about this lamb broth, Yangrou Paomo, in which the flat bread is broken up and thrown in, and there is a bowl of raw garlic to spoon in as well. i must admit that anything with a bowl of raw garlic to spoon in will catch my attention, also i love lamb. so its a cold day here in britain, we're all down with colds and flu, and i'm thinking: this is the soup for me. today.

recipe anyone?

thanks,

marlena

[helenjp]

Scroll down for photo of girl breaking bread into bowl at table set for paomo

A Japanese visitor to Xi-an says that the bread was almost like dried bread, very crisp, and that he was told to break it quite finely into his bowl - and when the soup (meat and cellophane noodles) came and he spooned it over, he realized that the dried bread swelled so much that the original pieces needed to be much smaller than had imagined. He said that it was served with garlic pickled in vinegar, which people scattered on top of their soup, meat, and dried bread, and that some people also added green coriander leaves or chili paste.

Other Japanese people say that the Xian version is more heavily seasoned than similar soups they ate in nearby regions. Some say that they've made it using naan bread or English muffins baked at a low temperature until dry and crisp.

Recipe for Yangrou Paomo

You could skip the noodles in this recipe, or replace them with cellophane noodles (mung bean vermicelli).

The soup recipe - mutton bones, chili pod, ginger, garlic and onions - sounds similar to mutton seasonings for Mongolian dishes. My guess is that bones are removed, and meat cut off and returned to the soup. Seasonings are salt, pepper, cumin and garlic - no soy sauce.

Take a look at the China forum, there are a few mentions of seasonings for Islamic-influenced dishes in western China. Here's hoping that somebody more knowledgeable weighs in!

- "yangrou" means lamb, so if you search for "paomo" you might find some references to the beef version too.

[marlena spieler]

Helen, this is GREAT! a million thank yous, i love the description of the garlic pickled in vinegar (a great favourite of mine) and the chile paste (i always travel with a jar of it)....

i also note that you have a pickles foodblog which i am going to have to check out....

i love pickles!

thank you again!

x marlena

[DylanK]

http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/2038590.html

Basic, serious recipe in Chinese that I used before.

[DylanK]

Quick translation:

Beef or lamb paomo uses local Shanxi meat, salt, hua jiao, star anise, black cardamom, cassia bark, ginger, and garlic sprouts as cooking ingredients.

For a good bowl of paomo, you must first have a good soup pot. Of course, the art of making soup is a business secret. Also, boiling meat for soup is an art that has many rules you must mind. First, prepare beef or lamb: give it a good, thorough rinse and soak it for about five hours, slice into big pieces about half a kilogram heavy and throw them back into the pot, get your bag of herbs and spices (the ginger, star anise, etc.) from the last time you boiled soup [like a cheesecloth bag-- but make sure it's a used one], boil on high for about four hours, put the meat in the pot [i translated this exactly but it doesn't make sense, because the meat should already be in the pot-- I just didn't put it in the first time it told me to put it in and put it in at this point instead], trade the old, used bag of herbs and spices for a new bag, stick a tight lid on your pot, get it to a boil and let it simmer for two or three hours, then change to a gentle flame and boil for about six hours. When the soup is thick and the meat is soft, take it out of the pot and put it on a cutting board.

The rest is just local science and history of paomo, the four mighty schools of paomo eating, etc.

[Ce'nedra]

Seems like a Middle Eastern/Central Asian influenced dish. Does anyone know if this dish came about during the Silk Road? And does anyone know of any other Silk Road-influenced foods in China? Really fascinating history...

[marlena spieler]

thank you DylanK for the info/recipe on lamb soup paomo, it looks so good i shall copy and try it soon.

in the recipe i notice an ingredient that i'm not familiar with, at least not by this name: what's hua jio?

thanks again!

marlena

[hzrt8w]

in the recipe i notice an ingredient that i'm not familiar with, at least not by this name: what's hua jio? 

←

Hua Jiao: 花椒. Mandarin for Sichuan peppercorns.

[marlena spieler]

Thank you. I love Sichuan peppercorns.

[lilyhotel]

paomo pictures:

Edited March 10, 2009 by lilyhotel (log)