Posted on 12th Jul 2025

Chinese Hamburger (Rou Jia Mo)

Rou jia mo, meaning 'meat sandwich'. With aromatic braised pork belly and handmade Chinese-style sandwich bread dipped in braising stock, this dish is pure comfort food.

Cuisine

Time

3 hr 20min mins

Servings

3 people people

Ingredients

600g -700g pork belly
4 garlic cloves
6 spring onions
A 5cm piece of ginger
A handful of fresh coriander

Spices

4 dried chili peppers
3 cloves
2 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick 5 centimeters / 2 inches in length
2 bay leaves
1 tsp cardamom pods
1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
One small piece of mandarin peel

Braising Liquid

5 tbsp Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
3 tbsp of light soy
3 tbsp of dark soy
2 tbsp rock sugar / 2x 5cm pieces.
Water
Salt to taste

The Bread

250 g all-purpose flour, 2 cups
110 ml water
15g vegetable oil
2.5g dried instant yeast
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder

Method

The Meat

• Bruise the garlic cloves, slice the ginger and roughly chop the 4 spring onions and set aside.

• In a large saucepan with boiling water blanch the pieces of pork for 5-6 minutes, drain and set aside.

• Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the rock sugar and cook until it melts. Add 300ml of water and bring to boil to make sure the sugar is fully dissolved next add the spices, ginger, garlic, spring onions and pork belly.

• Add the braising liquid sauces and top it up with water until the pieces of pork belly are fully covered with the liquid. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer for 3 hours.