Lamb Noodle Soup
Henan-style lamb soup noodles with sesame paste and a warming broth.
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Lamb Pao Mo
Xi'an's beloved ritual bowl: hand-torn flatbread cubes soaked in rich lamb broth with tender lamb and coriander, assembled in three minutes from pre-made parts. Adapted for a home kitchen from the original ClouChef R&D report — 羊肉泡馍, report 138.
Original poster image from clouchef.com (poster: 羊肉泡馍_138.jpeg). This is the hero poster only, not a step-by-step photo set.
Prep: 2 hours 30 minutes (broth and bread, mostly unattended)Cook: 3 minutesTotal: 2 hours 33 minutesServings: 1 generous bowl (adaptation: the source portion is ~500 g)Difficulty: MediumRegion: Shaanxi (Xi'an)Flavour: Salty-savoury, lamb-rich
Why this works
Pao mo is a dish of three preparations that meet only at the end, and its pleasure is in the bread. The broth is made by simmering lamb bones and meat for two hours until it is rich but still clear; the flatbread is leavened, rolled thin and pan-cooked until golden, then torn or cut into half-centimetre cubes; and the assembly takes three minutes, which is the whole point of the pre-made parts. Bread cubes simmered for exactly one minute drink up broth without dissolving into porridge, lamb goes in for thirty seconds so it warms without toughening, and coriander is added at a rolling boil for five seconds so it is scalded safe and still green. Get the cube size wrong and the dish fails either way — too big and the bread stays dry inside, too small and it disintegrates before the bowl reaches the table. Eat it hot, straight from the bowl, before the bread has time to turn to porridge.
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Ingredients
| Ingredient | US | Metric | Substitute / note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooked lamb, cut into 1 cm cubes | 3.5 oz | 100 g | Leg or belly lamb from the broth pot, as in the source. |
| Plain flour, for the flatbread | 3.5 oz | 100 g | Part of the flatbread dough below; do not serve separately. |
| Warm water, for the flatbread | ¼ cup | 55 ml | At 30 °C, for the dough below. |
| Flatbread, finished weight | 5.3 oz | 150 g | Yield maths: 100 g flour + 55 ml water + 1 g yeast = 156 g dough; pan-cooking loses about 6 g of moisture, yielding about 150 g of finished flatbread for this one serving. |
| Lamb broth | 1 cup | 250 ml | From simmering lamb bones and meat (see steps); the source's bone-and-meat broth, costed as free because it uses trimmings. |
| Coriander | small handful | 5 g | — |
| Salt | ½ tsp | 3 g | To taste, added to the boiling broth. |
| Shaoxing wine, for blanching the lamb | 1 tsp | 5 ml | — |
| Ginger, sliced, for the broth | a few slices | a few slices | Quantity not specified in the source. |
| Yeast, for the bread | ¼ tsp | 1 g | As listed in the source ingredient table. |
Equipment
- Large pot for the broth
- Flat pan or griddle for the bread — no special oven required (adaptation)
- Bowl, pre-warmed if possible
Steps
- Prep the lamb and broth. Cut the lamb into 2 cm pieces, soak in cold water for 30 minutes, then blanch in boiling water with wine for 5 minutes and rinse. Simmer lamb bones and the blanched meat with ginger slices over high heat, then low heat, for 2 hours. Strain the broth and cut the cooked meat into 1 cm cubes.
- Make the bread. Mix 100 g flour, 1 g yeast and 55 ml warm water (30 °C), knead smooth and rest for 40 minutes. Roll 0.5 cm thin and pan-cook until golden on both sides. Cool, then cut into 0.5 × 0.5 cm cubes.
- Boil the broth. Bring 250 ml lamb broth to a boil and season with salt.
- Soak the bread. Add the bread cubes and simmer for 1 minute — soft but not mushy, as the source requires.
- Add the lamb. Add the lamb cubes and cook for 30 seconds.
- Finish. When the broth is boiling again, add the coriander and cook for 5 seconds so it is scalded through (the source requires the broth above 90 °C at this point). Turn off the heat at once and pour everything into a bowl. Serve immediately.
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Technique: one minute for the bread, thirty seconds for the meat
Bread cubes absorb broth at a predictable rate, and one minute is the line between soaked and dissolved. The lamb is already fully cooked from the broth pot, so its thirty seconds is only a reheat — longer, and twice-cooked lamb turns dry and stringy. The coriander rule follows food-safety logic rather than flavour: five seconds at a rolling boil is enough to scald it without wilting it into the soup.
Variations
- Shortcut: use good shop-bought lamb stock and a plain flatbread or pita, torn small. The ritual is reduced but the bowl still works (adaptation).
- Heartier: add a few slices of soaked wood-ear mushroom to the broth with the lamb (adaptation).
Frequently asked questions
Can I tear the bread by hand?
Yes — tearing is the traditional Xi'an way and the source's marketing celebrates it. Cutting into 0.5 cm cubes is the report's standardised version and gives a more even soak.
Why is my bread mush?
The cubes were too small, or they simmered longer than a minute. Keep them 0.5 cm and time the soak.
Is the broth supposed to be clear?
Yes — the source's control point is a clear broth, which is why the heat drops after the initial boil and the broth is strained.
Storage
Best eaten immediately; soaked bread does not keep. Keep broth, meat and bread separate for up to 2 days refrigerated, and assemble fresh, reheating the broth to a full boil. Broth freezes well for up to 1 month.
Lamb Pao Mo — Recipe Card
Hand-torn flatbread cubes soaked in rich lamb broth with tender lamb and coriander.
Prep: 2 hours 30 minutes (broth and bread, mostly unattended)Cook: 3 minutesTotal: 2 hours 33 minutesServings: 1 generous bowl (adaptation: the source portion is ~500 g)
Ingredients: 100 g cooked lamb; 100 g plain flour, 55 ml warm water and 1 g yeast for about 150 g flatbread; 250 ml lamb broth; 5 g coriander; 3 g salt; 5 ml wine; ginger slices.
Steps: 1) Soak, blanch lamb; simmer bones and meat 2 hours, strain, cube meat. 2) Make flatbread, cool, cut 0.5 cm cubes. 3) Boil broth, season. 4) Add bread, 1 minute. 5) Add lamb, 30 seconds. 6) Add coriander at a boil, 5 seconds, serve.
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Source note: ingredients, quantities and steps are adapted from the original ClouChef R&D report for 羊肉泡馍 (data/reports/138.md). The report's pricing, margin and marketing sections are deliberately omitted here; no B2B cost is presented as a home-cook cost. Original poster image: clouchef.com (羊肉泡馍_138.jpeg). The source gives no flour or water quantity for the flatbread, so the bread quantities on this page are calculated to yield the source's 150 g finished bread: 156 g of dough less about 6 g of cooking loss. The source's 2-hour broth simmer is followed here; a longer time quoted elsewhere in the report is not used. The 1-bowl serving presentation is an adaptation.