$9.95 I thought I would be satisfied with Xian’s pork burger ($8.50), a pleasurably simple combination of soft pork belly in a doughy pocket of bai jin mo. Then Adam Chao – weekend helper at his family’s new restaurant in the food court once known as the Porter Exchange – urged me to sample a version that has beef and onion, with a touch more heat, packed into a sliced tong guan mo or baiji bun forming the roujiamo, the hamburger served as street food to the lucky residents of Shaanxi province in Northwestern China. (Its capital is the restaurant’s namesake, Xi’an.) This flour flatbread is slightly reminiscent of an English muffin in its bite, but comes in thin, pastrylike layers that only threaten to flake off. Instead, it’s the perfect vehicle for soaking up the sweet orange grease of the beef, which alchemizes the two components into one. Chao said that some diners order the Cool Noodles ($8.95) and dip the burger into the residue. Either way, sublime.

Xian Cool Noodle, Lesley’s University Hall, 1815 Massachusetts Ave., Porter Square, Cambridge

Advertisement

Submit your own 150-word, $10-or-less Bite at editor@csindie.com or use the same address to tell us what bites we need to be trying and writing about next.