ROUGAMO (SMOKED PORK BELLY BURGER) or肉(Ròu)夹(Jiā)馍(Mó)

MAIN INGREDIENTS: toasted wheat flour bun; marinated pork belly.

TASTE and TEXTURE: soft, chewy pork fat that somehow doesn’t feel greasy while offering a rich and mellow flavor.

HISTORY: Rougamo literally means “meat placed in a bun.” Originating in Xi’an, the capital city of Shaan Xi Province, this delectable sandwich can be traced back 2000 years ago to the Warring States era. Pork was easy to preserve in marinade at that point in history. The marinated pork belly, often called simply “cold meat” during this time, Han soldiers at the battlefront would slap their “cold meat” rations between toasted buns, a common meal for a soldier throughout the wars.