Beef and Mutton Paomo

Beef and mutton paomo is Xi'an's most famous traditional staple: a dense, semi-leavened flatbread is torn into small pieces and cooked with beef or mutton and glass noodles in a strong broth, eaten with pickled sweet garlic, chili paste, and coriander.

Its roots reach back to an ancient mutton stew and to the northwestern habit of pairing bread with broth; in Xi'an, Hui Muslim cooks refined it over generations into the emblem of Guanzhong halal cuisine.

Tradition has diners tear the bread into soybean-sized bits by hand, after which the kitchen boils it to the requested broth level, from soupy to nearly dry, to be savored slowly with sweet garlic and chili.

A good bowl is judged by a thick broth, tender meat, and springy bread, with old houses such as Lao Sun Jia and Tong Sheng Xiang regarded as the standard-bearers.