Here are ten mouth-watering foods from our travels through Xinjiang, all of them Uyghur foods. There are five savory and five sweet ones for your enjoyment!
我们在环游新疆途中发现了十种令人垂涎欲滴的食物，都是维吾尔食物。此处与您共享五道风味极佳的菜肴和五道甜品。
1. Laghman 拉面
Hand-pulled noodles, Uyghur style, are rustic and delicious. The noodles are stretched, stretched, then stretched some more (you may be able to just see the young boy behind the old man, just starting out with a batch), boiled quickly then turned out onto a big enamel platter to cool a little before being portioned out by hand.
Laghman are usually topped with a rich rustic vegetable ragout simmered in the pot from peppers, eggplant, onion, garlic and tomato, with or without a few pieces of lamb. If there are extra vegetables in season (celery, spinach, beans) these often make their way in too. It's a filling and very satisfying dish.
Want to make your own? Instructions
here from my last visit to Kashgar.
维吾尔风味的手工拉面，既有乡土风味又美味可口。面条被拉伸，拉伸，再拉伸（你可能只能看到老人后面的年轻人，他正准备下面），然后入锅快速煮一下就捞出放在一个大盘里，稍稍冷却就进行手工分盘。拉面上一般会浇上具有浓郁地方口感的蔬菜炖肉，锅里的炖菜有辣椒，茄子，洋葱，大蒜和西红柿，有时会有几片羊肉，也会有当季的蔬菜（芹菜，菠菜，豆）。这是一道让人口腹都极为满足的食物。
2. Kawap 烤羊肉串
The smell of charcoal, spice and grilling meat is a vivid memory for travelers to Xinjiang, with outdoor barbecues smoking up a storm on every street. Lamb kawap (known to us as kebabs and to the Chinese as yang rou chuanr) are the quintessential street food of Xinjiang - succulent pieces of fatty lamb threaded onto long metal skewers, with a nice juicy chunk of lamb fat in the centre to keep the meat tender. Sometimes there's a piece of lamb's liver in there for variety, if you like.
The kawap are grilled to order over a long, narrow waist-high charcoal brazier, sprinkled as they cook with that magical mixture of spices that gives incredible flavour - usually cumin, white pepper, chili and salt - and when ready are served with nan bread. Grilled meat, soft bread - a perfect taste combination.
木炭，香料和烤肉的味道是来新疆旅游的人们最鲜活的记忆，街上到处洋溢着烤肉的烟味。羊肉串（对我们来说就是烤肉串，对中国人来说就是羊肉串）就是新疆街边小吃的 代表——鲜嫩多汁的肥羊肉块被穿在长长的金属棒上，在肉串的中间有一块多汁的羊肉脂肪。如果你喜欢，有时肉串上还会有一块羊肝。肉串被放在一个狭长的齐腰高的木炭架子上烧烤，辅以香料的混合物，散发着令人难以置信的香味——孜然，白辣椒，红辣椒和盐——肉串烤好后再配上馕一起吃。烤肉，松软的面包——一个完美地味道组合。
3. Carrot salad 胡萝卜色拉
If you order kawap in a restaurant rather than on the street, the other great accompaniment to them is this cold, spiced salad. It cuts through the fat in meat dishes perfectly. Western Xinjiang has both orange and bright yellow carrots, and both are shredded together with white radish and some fine rice vermicelli noodles in this salad, dressed with dark vinegar, salt and chili.
如果你是在饭店而不是在街边小店点刨冰，那么你可以尝到的另一个非常美味的甜品，那就是辣味冰色拉。它完美地中和了荤菜中的油腻。新疆西部的色拉里有切成条状的橙子和明黄色的胡萝卜，加上小的白萝卜和一些朱红色的面条，用黑醋，盐和红辣椒调味。
4. Samsas 烤包子
There are constant food and linguistic reminders that Xinjiang shares much more in common with central Asia, including the name of these spiced lamb parcels wrapped in dough and cooked in the tall tonur outdoor pit oven. Known as samosa in India, sambosa in Afghanistan, sambusa in Iran, and samsa in Pakistan, they are perfect as a snack in their smaller version, while the larger ones, kumach, are a meal in themselves.
What I loved as I travelled through Xinjiang was the regional variations in shape - some like parcels, some like large balls, some like crescents, some flat and square like envelopes. All delicious.
有些食物是新疆和中亚地区长期共享的标志性食物，包括那些包有调味羊肉，在户外深井烤炉中烤好的面团，在印度被称为samosa，在阿富汗被称为sambosa，在伊朗被称为sambusa，在巴基斯坦被称为samsa，小尺寸的面团就是一种完美的小吃，大尺寸的则是一顿正餐。我在新疆旅游时的最爱则是具有各地特色的各种形状的包子，有的像包裹，有的像大球，有的像新月，有的呈四方扁平状犹如信封，但是都很好吃。
5. Polo 手抓饭
Polo is a rich and satisfying rice pilaf, made in a large deep curved pot like a wok, with shreds of carrot that cook to a caramelised loveliness, pieces of onion that brown and crisp on the bottom, and mutton on the bone. The entire dish is all buttery rice, with the sweetness of the carrots and the saltiness of the tender, tender meat. In Xinjiang, whole restaurants are devoted to the perfection of polo, but you can also find slightly less perfect (but no less tasty) versions in markets and truckstops.
手抓饭是一道口感丰富让人满足的肉饭，在类似于炒锅的弯且深的大锅中，加入胡萝卜条烧至微焦，洋葱片铺入锅底烧至棕色，再加上带骨羊肉一起煮。整道菜充满了黄油米饭、胡萝卜的甜味和嫩肉的咸香味。在新疆，所有的饭店都热衷于制作材料齐全的手抓饭，但在市场和载货汽车停车场里，你也能找到一些材料不那么全的手抓饭（但味道丝毫不差）。
6. Zongza 粽扎
I know what you're thinking, those parcels being unwrapped in the picture below look mighty like
zongzi - sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves - and hang on, isn't that a Chinese dish? Well, you'd be right, up to a point.
In a marvelous Uyghur take on a Chinese classic, these zongza are made with a sticky red date in the tip. To serve, the zongza are unwrapped, pressed flat on a saucer, then covered in rich, creamy cold yoghurt curd and drizzled all over with brown sugar syrup and eaten with a tiny teaspoon. One word: divine.
我知道你在想什么，下面照片里那些打开的包裹很像粽子——竹叶里包着糯米——然后悬挂起来，那不就是一道中国菜吗？好吧，在某种意义上来说，你是对的。了不起的维吾尔人融合了中国古典传统，粽扎是打开着的，平按在一个浅碟上，然后盖上奶味浓郁的冻酸奶炼乳，撒上棕色的糖浆，用小茶匙吃。一个字：赞。
7. Matang 麻糖
Matang refers to a whole group of slightly different sweet treats made with locally grown nuts as one of the main ingredients - usually walnuts or almonds, made into a giant block of sweet, chewy nut brittle.
Some matang is very crunchy with a toffee base, and some is soft, chewy, and creamy, like nougat. You just tell the vendor how much you would like in weight, and he will slice off a hunk with a very sharp knife, chop it into bite-size pieces and weigh it on scales.
For more details there's a great description of the treat and how it's made
here
麻糖指的是一整类甜味稍异的甜品，就是以当地产的坚果——通常是胡桃或是杏仁作为原料制作出的一大块甜而耐嚼的坚果脆块。
有些麻糖有太妃糖般内软外脆的口感，有些像牛轧糖般柔软耐嚼，奶味十足。你只需告诉摊主你要多重的，他就会用一把很锋利的刀从大块麻糖上切下一块，切成适合一口能吃的小块然后称重。
8. Fresh figs 新鲜无花果
It's impossible to travel through Xinjiang during fig season (July to October) and not eat your own body weight in sweet, fresh figs - enjur. Just take a fig leaf, and choose your own from the pile to take away, usually 1 yuan each. The best and sweetest are reported to come from the town of Atash near Kashgar, and Beshkirem, but you will find fig vendors everywhere.
在无花果成熟的季节在新疆旅游（七月至十月）你一定会对甜品食量大增，因为你会吃很多新鲜的无花果。人们拿一片无花果叶子，自行从果堆中挑选果子带走，一个果子一块钱。据说最好最甜的无花果产自喀什附近的阿塔什，以及塔什库尔干，但无花果摊到处都有。
9. Summer Snow kar dogh 夏季刨冰
A street food miracle, this delightful summer treat is made from snow harvested in the depths of winter and kept frozen until the heat of summer arrives in underground rooms filled with blocks of ice. A pre-electric freezer.
The vendors keep their own blocks of snow cold with blankets, and when you order a bowl of kar dogh he will scoop snow from the block and top it with freshly made yoghurt, brown sugar syrup and some rich, creamy yoghurt curd.
I sat in the Hotan Bazaar next to a very ancient Uyghur man, both of us grinning and slurping on our bowls of kar dogh like kids tasting icecream for the first time. Fantastic.
这是一个街边小吃的奇迹，这道爽口的夏季甜品是由寒冬获得的冰雪制成，冰块在地下室保存至夏季。一个电动冰柜。
摊主把各自的冰块存放在篮子里，当你点单后，他会从大冰块上刨下碎冰，淋上新鲜的自制酸奶，棕色的糖浆和一些口感浓郁，奶味十足的酸奶炼乳。我坐在和田集市上，身旁就是一位年事很高的老人，我们俩都咧着嘴津津有味地吃着碗中的刨冰，好像第一次吃冰激凌的小孩一样兴奋。太好吃了！
10. Sweet Samsas 烤甜包
In a few restaurants, notably the wonderful Altun Orda restaurant in Kashgar, you can end your meal with a sweet samsa filled with a spiced mixture of sultanas and crushed nuts in crisp, flaky pastry. A perfect way to finish a round-up of sweet Uyghur treats!
在喀什的一些饭店，特别是著名的阿尔金斡儿答饭店，你能在进餐时品尝到一种甜甜的烤包子，包子馅儿是无核小葡萄干丁和脆脆的坚果仁混合物，包子是一种薄薄的酥皮点心。是维吾尔甜品的完美收官之作。
Labels: chinese food, Chinese street food, travel, Xinjiang
