Xinjiang/Uighur Home Cooking

[Gary Soup]

Some of those planes were old British Tridents and Russian something that begins with "A".  I guess things have changed lately. Hope so.

The Antonovs have all been retired (or have crashed), I believe.

[Pan]

It's looking more definite that I'll be in China in August. How's the domestic safety record of China Airlines lately?

By the way, should we take some long flights, do you recommend we get food to bring on board, or do they serve decent food?

[Gary Soup]

[i had two skewers of lamb (the sign said mutton but the vendor said "lamb") kebabs from the Xinjiang-style barbecued meats vendor in Flushing for lunch today. At $1 apiece, naturally the lamb was not of very high quality, but the taste was pretty good. He used whole cumin seeds and a nice spice mixture he dabbed all over just before handing the skewers to me. I'd consider trying it again. Incidentally, he does not serve goat. It was "Mutton," "Mutton Chop," "Beef," and "Chicken," I believe.

"Mutton" and "lamb" have the same name in Chinese. I made this mistake when I bought some boneless lamb leg from Costco for use in hot pot. My wife informed me it was the "wrong kind" of lamb. She bought some sliced mutton for the hot pot, and "red cooked" the lamb leg (it was pretty good!)

Goat also appears on the menu of some Chinese restaurants in San Francisco as "lamb" in English. On the Chinese menu it's "mountain lamb," of course.

[Pan]

Joanne, thanks for posting the train food logs; they were interesting. Where did you get all that food, though? Was there a dining car somewhere (I don't remember any on the trains I took), or did you just buy those things from vendors while stopped at stations or something?

[chengb02]

Flying in China is a mixed bag, while most (if not all) of the old Russian planes are done with, there are still some pretty old planes (I was shocked that the Air China 747 I took from SF to BJ was actually very old). On the other hand, I don't think any country in the world has been buying new planes at the same speed as China has

[Jon Tseng]

yangrouchuanryangrouchuanryangrouchuanr...

get withdrawal symptoms even thinking about it!

J

[herbacidal]

Chinese trains are getting better every year, the big thing now is the working on a supersonic train to be opened in a few years that will travel from Beijing to Shanghai in only a few hours (probably around 4, as compared to the 12 or so it takes now)...

Is it 12 hours?

I thought I remember it taking about 9 in 1997.

But it also might change depending on the particular train they use

for the route.

How much does train ride in China cost? Do they still sell those lunch box that contains preserved vegetable, salty duck egg, fatty pork, and rice?

I do remember there being a dining car on the Nanjing to Beijing train, which is the only one I remember taking soft seat.

On all of the others, all I remember is the dining cart coming through, and the hawkers outside the train at the smaller stations.

[WhiteSnow]

By the way, should we take some long flights, do you recommend we get food to bring on board, or do they serve decent food?

The food they served me was edible and plentiful, but it's definitely not on the list of foods I'd go to China just to eat again. I'd guess it's comparable quality to airline food in the U.S.--you eat it because you don't want to go hungry.

[jo-mel]

Joanne, thanks for posting the train food logs; they were interesting. Where did you get all that food, though? Was there a dining car somewhere (I don't remember any on the trains I took), or did you just buy those things from vendors while stopped at stations or something?

Pan-- Those were all dining cars. The dining car had a long kitchen paralleling the aisle into the car.

As far as platform food, I usually picked up things like candy or rice crackers, but the one thing I will always remember -- and can still taste, is/are the Wuxi ribs. Big chunks of meaty-bony-gristly lucious tasty pork. They were wonderful!

[jo-mel]

By the way, should we take some long flights, do you recommend we get food to bring on board, or do they serve decent food?

The food they served me was edible and plentiful, but it's definitely not on the list of foods I'd go to China just to eat again. I'd guess it's comparable quality to airline food in the U.S.--you eat it because you don't want to go hungry.

I didn't keep track of the airline food I had on my first trip to China in '84 --- I guess because they weren't meals. They just passed out candy and a souvenir to each passenger. The first 'gift' was an egg cup with the letters CAAC on it. I still have it in a trinket shelf.

Other flights range from '90 to '96. Those food logs show:

----Shrimp/crab salad / White Cabbage / Rice / Shredded Chicken / Custard / Peach Drink. I still remember that drink. It was half sugar!!

----Roll with what seemed to be Bacon Bits / Sweet Bean Roll / Ham Sandwich / Cake with White Icing.

----Prawn Flavored Crackers / Sponge Cake / Chocolate-filled Cookies / Coconut Cake / Crackers.

----Orange Juice / Fresh Fruit / Crescent Roll with Mystery Meat Salad / Cheesecake (this is not NY cheesecake) [my added comment to the log] / Coffee.

----That particular flight was Dragonair Airline.The others I don't remember, but some were China Air.

----To Kunming: Candy / Biscuits / Soda.

----Lichee / Shrimp Chips / Hickory Nuts / Sponnge Cake / Peanut Crisps.

----Chicken Salad / Roll / Beef - Rice - Snowpeas stir-fry / Layer Cake / Tea.

That last trip was in '96. Looks like the food has improved over the years!

This has been a wonderful trip down memory lane. I didn't keep written logs of my travels, only a few notations of daily activities, but I wrote the food down as I had it. I used a tape recorder as a log for the actual activities , and it would be fun to listen to my comments on board those flights. Some of them were pretty hairy!

[Susan G]

I recall "ba bao cha" or "eight treasure tea" was something I was told to buy alot of, because Chinese in other cities I would be visiting would especially appreciate it. I've seen t sold here in the States in several Asian grocery stores. Haven't tried it in the States. It's supposed to be a regional specialty of Xinjiang.

[chengb02]

airline meals are similar to those in the US, bad! Well, thats my personal opinion, but they should be able to tide you over until you'll be able to eat again. I was just thinking that in my earlier post when talking about airlines I should have also talked about food, at least then I could have offered a somewhat food related post ! One thing to definitely avoid at all costs, is eating at the airport, the costs are astronomical. I remember 2 years ago the papers did a few stories on the costs and that caused the airport to lower prices a bit (a cup of coffee was around 80 RMB!!!). I am with Jon all the way, one of my first stops after getting to the hotel was hitting a sanlitun bar with friends and having a few yangrou chuanr!

[Ce'nedra]

Now I don't know much about Xinjiang cuisine and I certainly know absolutely ZILCH about cooking from that region. However, I'm VERY interested. I've eaten at a specifically Uighur restaurant once, and a more broad Xinjiang restaurant twice. My experience wasn't too good at the Uighur restaurant but I believe that it was merely a poor choice of restaurant rather than a 'bad' cuisine.

I love lamb but the lamb there was extremely...heavy in smell..to say the least..

and it was in EVERYTHING, including these HUGE Uighur dumplings (which had a really thick skin).

My experience at the Xinjiang restaurant, however, were fairly good. I loved their Xinjiang style fried hand-pulled noodles. And their laghman was good too (though a tad on the oily side).

I really want to try cooking some easy dishes from this cuisine -nothing too 'exotic' if you get my drift. Just something simple and tasty but also doesn't require any ingredients that are a pain in the arse to find ( ). So if there are any recipes to offer, I'd be really grateful!

Oh and information and pictures regarding this cuisine is also much appreciated

Oh and here's some pictures that my friend took on his trip to an Uighur restaurant in Taiwan (he said it was REALLY delicious):

[bethpageblack]

You are one food-curious woman, Ce'nedra.

Don't know how to cook Xinjiang or Uyghar food, but I have sure eaten a lot of it here. There are tons of Uyghar and Xinjiang restaurants here in GZ, and they range from, of course, very bad to very good. I go to one place where they specialize in hand pulled noodles, but they cook it sort of like Italian style pasta, where they boil it, then throw the noodles into a sauce. Very heavily spiced with garlic, tomato, onion and cumin. Not spicy, but you can add your own spice. btw, the lamb I eat at these places are not "soh" or gamy at all. I don't know what they do with it to make it that way, but it's delicious.

As for Xinjiang, there are many Xinjiang people in GZ riding a bike with a portable grill on the back cooking lamb kebabs and flatbreads. The kebabs are about 1 RMB each, or 13 cents or so each. 5 skewers makes for a good snack. The skewers are small, and they are about 65% meat and 35% fat, but pretty darn tasty. Lamb fat rules!

That said, a GZ newspaper reported last year that there was a huge decrease in the amount of stray cats in a particular area of the City. FWIW, there are tons of stray animals in GZ. Cats, dogs, etc. Anyways, they then bought skewers from different kebab vendors around that particular area, and tested the kebabs in a lab. Sure enough, 50% of these kebabs were not lamb. I'm assuming I don't have to tell the rest of the story..

[Ce'nedra]

bethpageblack: I do have a thirst for knowledge of all things historically related to food as well I have this fascination with the origins of different dishes and how certain cuisines came to have formed -that's why I love cookbooks that give a thorough history on each recipe within it

Mmm the lamb you had sounds just like the kind I love -indeed without the overly 'gamey' smell but also tender

I never knew there were so many Uighur/Xinjiang people and restaurants in Guangzhou. I thought they would've been more heavily based in the northern and (naturally) western reaches of China.

As for your stray cat kebab story................YIKES!

This is exactly why I have a fear of eating street food if I ever travel (I intend to of course) to Asia!

Those food vendors in Asia are what makes the places so charming to me -but I've got no idea which ones are safe to eat and which arent...

[insomniac]

As for your stray cat kebab story................YIKES!

This is exactly why I have a fear of eating street food if I ever travel (I intend to of course) to Asia! 

Those food vendors in Asia are what makes the places so charming to me -but I've got no idea which ones are safe to eat and which arent...

←

don't worry too much Ce'nedra, I'm betting I'm one of many on this forum who have eaten street food for years without any noticeable ill effect ....and the 'goat curry ' I had in Sumatra (99% sure it was cat) was tasty.....as long as the food is fresh and turnover seems to indicate so, don't use too much imagination, just enjoy....

(I'm remembering being asked as I was munching on a dried BBQ camel meat skewer if I didn't worry about the TB, and being told that the 'prawns' I was loving were, you know, those things you find in the hedge, i.e. bugs.....)

[Big Bunny]

Fuchsia Dunlop Uighur Recipes:

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/foodmonthly...1660789,00.html

BB

[Ce'nedra]

insomniac: Thanks for comfort My problem is that I just can't get the thoughts out of my head...I believe I'm a really paranoid person, esp when it comes to umm 'mystery' meats hahaha!

But you're right -I will try to keep my mind blank until I sink my teeth into the delicious street foods mmm...

[Ce'nedra]

Big Bunny: Thank you! I shall check that out now

[liuzhou]

Cat meat is much more expensive than lamb/mutton. No restaurant is going to substitute it for lamb/mutton. Guangdong restaurants happily announce that they sell cat meat. They're not going to slip an expensive meat into your ¥1 kebab.

This story sounds like just another urban myth.

Edited September 27, 2007 by liuzhou (log)

[bethpageblack]

Cat meat is much more expensive than lamb/mutton. No restaurant is going to substitute it for lamb/mutton. Guangdong restaurants happily announce that they sell cat meat. They're not going to slip an expensive meat into your ¥1 kebab.

This story sounds like just another urban myth.

←

Liuzhou, the article was about a decrease in the amount of stray cats, not pet cats. As far as I know, the cost of stray cats are free, along with a couple scratches.

[bethpageblack]

bethpageblack: I do have a thirst for knowledge of all things historically related to food as well  I have this fascination with the origins of different dishes and how certain cuisines came to have formed -that's why I love cookbooks that give a thorough history on each recipe within it 

Mmm the lamb you had sounds just like the kind I love -indeed without the overly 'gamey' smell but also tender 

I never knew there were so many Uighur/Xinjiang people and restaurants in Guangzhou. I thought they would've been more heavily based in the northern and (naturally) western reaches of China.

As for your stray cat kebab story................YIKES!

This is exactly why I have a fear of eating street food if I ever travel (I intend to of course) to Asia! 

Those food vendors in Asia are what makes the places so charming to me -but I've got no idea which ones are safe to eat and which arent...

←

The lamb cooked in the stews and in the pastas are indeed tender, but we sometimes have roasted lamb, which is heavily spiced with salt, cumin, some red pepper and other spices. It's served well done. Very tasty, but not tender at all. It's the kind of food where you get your hands dirty, sort of like eating BBQ. Good stuff. The breads are also quite nice.

As for the cat kebabs, I didn't mean to scare you off. Most of the street vendors have plenty of turnover so the stuff isn't rotten or anything. I haven't gotten sick from any of that stuff as of yet, so I'll eat it without hesitation. I'm going to Bangkok and Hua Hin next week for vacation so I will have to check out the street vendor scene there. The boss (my G/F) might not let me eat that stuff though. I might have to put my foot down.

[liuzhou]

the article was about a decrease in the amount of stray cats, not pet cats. As far as I know, the cost of stray cats are free, along with a couple scratches.

So. The trader gets his cat meat for free and decides to sell it as lamb for ¥1 or ¥2 for a stick as opposed to the ¥10 to ¥20 he can get by openly advertising cat meat?

Yeah! Right!

Do you have even one source you can provide for your assertation?

Edited September 27, 2007 by liuzhou (log)

[Ce'nedra]

The lamb cooked in the stews and in the pastas are indeed tender, but we sometimes have roasted lamb, which is heavily spiced with salt, cumin, some red pepper and other spices.  It's served well done.  Very tasty, but not tender at all.  It's the kind of food where you get your hands dirty, sort of like eating BBQ.  Good stuff.  The breads are also quite nice.

As for the cat kebabs, I didn't mean to scare you off.  Most of the street vendors have plenty of turnover so the stuff isn't rotten or anything.  I haven't gotten sick from any of that stuff as of yet, so I'll eat it without hesitation.  I'm going to Bangkok and Hua Hin next week for vacation so I will have to check out the street vendor scene there.  The boss (my G/F) might not let me eat that stuff though.  I might have to put my foot down. 

←

As long as the lamb doesn't have a strong smell, I am absolutely in love with it in any form (almost)

Oh yes, I do love Uighur breads. I'm not sure why any form of bread that has had a Middle Eastern/Central Asian influence seems to be some of the best in the world!

Oh and I think the thought of eating a cat itself simply doesn't sit well with me Even if it's not rotten lol........

Wow your gf really does remind me of myself hahaha! I think I would be good friends with her

[bethpageblack]

the article was about a decrease in the amount of stray cats, not pet cats. As far as I know, the cost of stray cats are free, along with a couple scratches.

So. The trader gets his cat meat for free and decides to sell it as lamb for ¥1 or ¥2 for a stick as opposed to the ¥10 to ¥20 he can get by openly advertising cat meat?

Yeah! Right!

Do you have even one source you can provide for your assertation?

←

Sorry, I thought it was Guangzhou, but it was Shanghai. I might have embellished a bit with the percentages, but I read this article over a year and a half ago.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2...tent_509870.htm

Article printed below:

Some restaurants are serving cat: animal worker

(Shanghai Daily)

Updated: 2006-01-06 09:14

Restaurant diners may want to skip the lamb.

Animal aid workers alleged some restaurants in Shanghai were serving cat meat that was listed on menus as mutton.

The Shanghai Small Animal Association, one of the earliest and most renowned NGOs in the city, said it has gathered enough evidence to make the charge after a one-year investigation.

The claim has not been confirmed by police or other authorities.

The association said stray cats were being sold to vendors who produced goods with the fur and sold the meat to restaurants.

Li Ruohai, the director of the association, said they launched the investigation a year ago after they repeatedly noticed stray cats were disappearing.

The association received frequent tips from its members or animal lovers that they saw people catching stray cats and selling them to food vendors.

Li said a team of volunteers from the association launched an undercover investigation.

Progress was slow at first. But recently, one of the investigators managed to get several pieces of "mutton" from a food vendor.

The meat was taken to a lab where one of the association's volunteers works. A DNA test found cat meat in two of the 12 samples, Li said.

Li showed Shanghai Daily the written report from the lab. He claimed it was strong evidence that stray cats were being eaten.

"The thieves are killing our efforts to save the stray animals," Li said.

The association also said some of the animals were used for cat fur products.

Shanghai Daily searched auction Website eBay.com.cn for cat fur items. Many goods including cat fur bags and clothes were available on the Website.

The Shanghai Food and Drug Administration didn't comment on the the Shanghai Small Animal Association's DNA report, but said it is illegal to sell cat meat.

"In China, animals such as sheep, cows, pigs and even dogs are listed as legal food materials, but never cats," said Gu Zhenhua, an official with the FDA.

"We have no food safety standards for cat meat because it's not supposed to be on the menu," Gu said. "Without food safety and quarantine checks, it's unsafe to serve cat meat."

Gu said those who sell cat meat will be punished according to the law.

Gu also said there was no common procedure to distinguish cat meat from other types of meat.

Here's another article from Reuters:

Shanghai street stalls serve up cat dressed as mutton

REUTERS

6:22 a.m. January 6, 2006

SHANGHAI – Shanghai street vendors are using the meat from stray cats to supplement mutton to make kebabs, an animal welfare organisation said on Friday.

The Shanghai Small Animal Association has just completed a one-year investigation in which kebab samples, mostly lamb but sometimes rabbit, tested positively for cat meat.

Although cats are a delicacy in wealthy Guangdong province in the south, diners elsewhere in China tend towards more conventional meat, prompting some street vendors to pass cat meat off as mutton in a city where stray cats are two a penny (emphasis added).

'There's no way of protecting cats here, no laws that defend their rights,' said Li Ruohai, director of the Shanghai Small Animal Association.

'Actually the problem is both dogs and cats. There's around 100,000 stray cats and dogs in the city, so people take them by force. It's a big problem.'

Li said the problem began with Shanghai residents who bought cats as pets, or received them as presents, but soon tired of them.