Ethnic Eats

新疆 (Xinjiang, literally 'new border') province is a vast, predominantly Muslim, oil-rich territory that occupies the far Western reaches of the Middle Kingdom.

Just as well-meaning non-Harbinese like to tell travellers not to visit Harbin ("The Ice Festival is nice, but don't go. It's too cold"), tourists are warned not to go to Xinjiang ("The scenery is great, but don't go. It's too dangerous".) This warning is attributable not to the teeming masses of sheep, for which the area is known, but rather for the reputation of the locals, who are described as "short-tempered, and fond of knives".

That said, they produce some of the best food to be found in China - surprising, considering it's not well-known outside of the region. Like Dongbei cuisine, Xinjiang food is meat-heavy. Its specialities include a variety of 拉面 (pulled noodles), and the best meat-on-a-stick to be found, anywhere. Ethnic minority Uyghur hawkers stand on street corners, fanning the coals on their portable barbecues. Wearing a distinctive type of hat, they make alarming ululating sounds with their mouths to attract customers.

Elsewhere, outside the front of noodle shops there is typically a big pot of boiling water, in which the aforementioned pulled noodles are cooked. Alternatively, one can order noodles 切削 ('cut' or 'chipped') style. The chef holds a big lump of raw dough, and using a giant cleaver quickly and continually swipes at the top, each time releasing a sliver of noodle which, as if by magic, flies into the boiling water. If he's feeling particularly showy, the chef might step back as he cuts, getting further and further from the pot, as the dough continues to cascade piece after piece to its watery grave.

On a side note, and oddly, for an overwhelmingly Muslim population, 新疆 beer isn't half bad. It's a black beer, in some ways similar to, but lighter and sweeter than Guinness.

All this serves as prologue to my finding a decent Xinjiang restaurant near University. Disappointingly, there wasn't a big pot, bubbling away outside, but there was a little barbecue. I ordered a few sticks of lamb, and some 烧汁牛腩 (roast juice beef tenderloin). The lamb was incredible. Melt-in-the-mouth chunks, cooked to perfection and dripping with spices. The beef less so, with cubes of meat of variable quality cooked with green peppers and carrots. Its one saving grace was the quality of the sauce which was very more-ish. The dish was served with rice, which to my mind isn't very authentic.

The proprietors were a Xinjiangese couple. Given its Central Asian location, the indigenous people of Xinjiang typically have the appearance of an Asian-European mix, with brown hair and wide eyes. For some reason, the Xinjiang youth in Shanghai all had terrible acne - poor hygiene, a reaction to Shanghai's humidity, or a genetic predisposition?

The dominant ethnic group (to which I and almost every chinese you're likely to have met belong), Han Chinese (汉族), don't seem to regard Xinjiangese as Chinese at all, referring to 新疆人 as if they from were a different country, and rarely, if ever, mixing with them socially. I don't know if this is a product of the aforementioned fondness for knives, because of cultural, historical and linguistic barriers, or because of the political tensions in that part of the country, and I'm certainly not qualified to comment any further. These guys seemed friendly enough though.

A mixed first taste of Xinjiang food in this city then. I'll break the no-repeat rule and give it another chance in a few days.