Hulutou Paomo: Pork Intestine, White Broth and a Gourd Legend

World Travel 编辑部 · 2026-09-16 · 4 min read

Hulutou is a Han Chinese snack from Xi'an, also called hulutou paomo. The name sounds odd, but anyone who has eaten it knows: its link to the gourd is half shape, half legend.

How a bowl is made

Flatbread is torn by hand into the bowl with sliced pork intestine, vermicelli, soaked wood ear and dried tofu, then repeatedly doused with boiling broth from a great pot. At the end come coriander, garlic sprouts, oil-splashed chilli and pork fat, with more broth poured over.

The bread here is leavened slightly, so the pieces are torn relatively large — just enough to cook through when the hot broth is poured. This is the opposite of lamb paomo's "the finer the better", so do not mix the two up when ordering.

White broth, and the name

The broth is a white one, simmered from pork bone, pork tripe, chicken and spices. The "hulutou" itself is the fat section of intestine where the large and small bowels join, usually eaten with sweet pickled garlic.

The best-known account of the name involves the physician Sun Simiao: he is said to have given the shopkeeper his medicine gourd with the herbs in it and taught him to improve his fried intestine, removing the off flavour; in gratitude the shopkeeper hung the gourd above the door, and the name stuck. Another says the pork intestine is so thick with fat and so gourd-shaped that it gave the dish its name.

Before you try it

The main ingredient is pork intestine, so skip it if offal is not for you. If you are willing, order the traditional version first: taste it plain, then add chilli.

Practical Notes

Tear the bread in large pieces, not the paomo way.
Sweet pickled garlic is the local habit — do not skip it.
It is not the same as huluji (gourd chicken); the names look alike but the dishes differ.