The atlas · A cuisine · Xinjiang, north-western China

Uyghur and Xinjiang

Also Uyghur, Uighur, Xinjiang cuisine
One of Chinese cooking's regional kitchens · all 13 side by side

The cooking of the desert oases in China's far north-west: lamb, cumin and chilli, hand-pulled noodles, pilaf, and breads baked on the walls of a clay oven.

Where it comes from

The Uyghurs are a Turkic-speaking, mostly Muslim people whose homeland is the ring of oasis towns around the Tarim Basin and the Taklamakan desert. Snowmelt from the Tian Shan and Kunlun mountains waters their fields, and for centuries they've grown wheat, melons, grapes and apricots there, and kept sheep.

Those oases were stops on the Silk Road, the caravan routes between China and the lands to the west, and the cooking shows it: flatbreads and pilaf that belong with Central Asia's, and pulled noodles that belong with China's. Lamb is the meat and there's no pork. Xinjiang lamb skewers, dusted with cumin and chilli, are now sold on street corners all over China.

Where in it

  1. ÜrümqiThe regional capital, north of the Tian Shan: a city of night markets and big restaurants, with lamb skewers smoking on the corners and big-plate chicken, from the north's roadside towns, shared at the table.LaghmanBig-plate chickenKawap
  2. KashgarThe old oasis city in the far west, close to Central Asia and long a Silk Road meeting place: its bazaars are known for polo in great pans, samsa from the tonur, kebabs over coals and nan by the stack.Uyghur poloSamsaKawapUyghur nan
  3. TurpanA hot, low oasis east of Ürümqi, below sea level in places and watered by old underground channels, the karez. It's famous for grapes and raisins, which find their way into polo.Uyghur polo
  4. HotanAn oasis on the southern edge of the Taklamakan, known for jade, walnuts and silk — and for gosh nan, the meat-filled flatbread often counted as its own.Gosh nan

How it cooks

The tonur
A clay oven, fired from below: nan is slapped onto its hot walls, samsa baked against them, and whole lambs roasted inside.
Pulling by hand
Dough rested in oil until it'll stretch, then pulled into long, even noodles without a knife.
Over the coals
Lamb on skewers, fat between the lean, turned over charcoal and dusted with cumin, chilli and salt.
The polo pan
Meat, onion and carrot fried in a deep pan, then rice laid on top and steamed with the lid on, so it takes the fat from below.

Always in the kitchen

lamblamb tail fatcuminchilli flakesdried chilliesonionsyellow carrotstomatoesgreen pepperswheat flourriceraisinsblack peppersesame seeds

Cook from it

Tonight, with what's good in October

Its classics

Uyghur and XinjiangUyghur poloRice steamed over lamb, onion and a heap of carrots in one deep pan, so it comes out glossy with the fat — the dish for guests and celebrations.No one here has made it yetUyghur and XinjiangLaghmanThick hand-pulled noodles under a stir-fry of lamb, peppers, tomato, celery and onion — the everyday lunch of the region.No one here has made it yetUyghur and XinjiangBig-plate chickenChicken and potatoes braised with chilli, Sichuan pepper and green peppers, served on one huge platter, with wide flat noodles tossed through the sauce at the end.No one here has made it yetUyghur and XinjiangKawapChunks of lamb and fat on skewers, grilled over charcoal and dusted with cumin, chilli and salt.No one here has made it yetUyghur and XinjiangSamsaSquare parcels of thin dough filled with lamb, fat and onion, baked against the wall of the tonur until blistered and crisp.No one here has made it yetUyghur and XinjiangUyghur nanRound flatbreads baked on the wall of the tonur, thin and stamped with patterns in the middle, often scattered with onion and sesame.No one here has made it yetUyghur and XinjiangGosh nanTwo thin rounds of dough sealed around minced lamb and onion, then baked or pan-fried until crisp — a flat, meat-filled nan cut into wedges.No one here has made it yet

Cooked here

No one here has cooked Uyghur and Xinjiang yet.