Thanks to ancient Silk Road trading routes, the flavors of Xinjiang are unlike anywhere else in China
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China’s far west region of Xinjiang is a place of expansive natural beauty, full of snow peaked mountains and stony deserts. Located at the threshold of central Asia where the ’stans converge—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Paki stan—it is home to the Turkic-speakingIslamic Uyghur people. For centuries, oasis towns on the ancient Silk Roads provided safe harbor and much-needed sustenance on the passage from the Middle East to the Chinese Empire. Flavors associated with the Middle East predominate—cumin, chile, garlic, and saffron, cooked with peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants. Mutton features heavily, either slow-braised, cooked with rice in polo (a mutton pilaf), or smoke-grilled, and camel is eaten occasionally. Flatbreads called nang, similar to Indian naan, are essential at every meal, along with fragrant black tea scented with saffron and rose petals. It’s a far cry from the soy sauce, pork, and rice wine flavors permeating Han Chinese cuisine that most Westerners associate so closely with the country.
This story is from the June - July 2016 edition of Saveur.
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This story is from the June - July 2016 edition of Saveur.
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