Katherine tells me that, historically, Xinjiang has been home to numerous nomadic tribes - wandering the countryside with their flocks of sheep. The cuisine is heavily influenced by this lifestyle and, as such, there is a significant amount of lamb involved.
We sampled four dishes...
A magnificent and slightly sweet yogurt with raisins and black sesame seeds. We used it as both condiment and side dish.
Juicy lamb dumplings with a black vinegar sauce.
Wraps with a seasoned ground beef filling and strips of cucumber. The wraps might look rather like tortillas, but they are in fact much more like think dumpling skin - rather elastic and chewy. The yogurt was a great addition to these.
Stir-fried cabbage with soy sauce, red chili peppers, and Sichuan "flower pepper". Savory and crunchy! Interestingly, the addition of "flower pepper" causes your mouth to go a little numb (but isn't spicy-hot at all).
A great dinner! Afterwards, when we returned home, Fui Fui wrangled me by the foot and begged for coverage in the blog, so I'm obliging...
Good night!
Posts
4 comments:
Oh my, that food looks yummy and very interesting...good to see Fui Fui ...he looks quite at home and relaxed!
Wow, how cool!!! I've always thought that looked like an interesting part of China... who knew you could find restaurants devoted to it?
Heyyy... you don't suppose that Sichuan pepper is the spice that Chia Shiang put in that noodle-and-cabbage dish that made my water taste like Perrier, do you? Reading the description of it (tingly numbness, springboard for hot spices, lemony notes), it sounded awfully similar.
Brenda says to tell you hello and that Fui Fui is very cute!
Post a Comment