Traditional Wheaten-Food Craft (Lao Sun Jia Paomo)

The Lao Sun Jia mutton-paomo craft is carried by the Lao Sun Jia house, said to date to the late Qing Guangxu era, and is among the representative techniques of Xi'an's Hui halal paomo, bearing the long Guanzhong tradition of mutton stew.

It includes meat selection, bone-and-meat preparation, spice-bagging, simmering, and bread-baking, stressing a thick broth, tender meat, and springy bread; the diner tears the bread by hand for boiling, with the broth level adjusted to taste in a meticulous process.

As a key part of traditional wheaten-food techniques, the Lao Sun Jia paomo craft was inscribed on the fifth national intangible-heritage list in 2021, a living example for studying Guanzhong halal noodle and bread culture.

Sustained by the Lao Sun Jia house in Xi'an, it offers an important route into the craft and history of the city's mutton paomo.