Urumqi Food & Cuisine
Roasted Stuffed Buns is another Uygurs' food very popular at festivals or wedding. The stuffing of the buns is a combination of chopped mutton, beef and sheep's-tail fat. Then add chopped onions, salt and cumin. Seal the stuffing in dough square, and put in an oven to roast for 10 - 20 minutes. The buns are thin-skinned, with tender meat stuffing and very delicious.
Xinjiang Kebabs are chunks of mutton thread on skewers and roasted over charcoal. The kebabs are turned continually and basted frequently, and when they are almost done, salt, pepper paprika and cumin are sprinkled on them. Kebabs are crispy outside and tender inside, slightly salty and hot. They are not greasy and have no unpleasant smell. They are sold in the streets and bazaars throughout Xinjiang.
Zhua Fan (Rice Eaten with Hands)is cooked with ingredients from fresh mutton, carrot, vegetable oil and rice. This food is soft, delicious and nutritious. It is consumed at the festivals, funerals and weddings of Uygurs and Uzbeks. People habitually pick the food from the tray by hand hence the name 'Rice Eaten with Hands'. Nowadays, people use chopsticks and spoons instead of fingers.
The major nationality in Xinjiang is Uygur who believes in Islamism, so the regular foods have mutton, beef, chicken, eggs and fish, especially mutton. The daily drinks mainly are cow milk, ewe milk, yogurt, and milk cream; the vegetables are yellow radish, onion, garlic, pumpkin, radish, tomato, eggplant, chili, coriander, ageratum, green bean and potato, etc.. The breakfast will have melons and fruits’ jams, milk tea and so on; the lunch will serve the main courses flour-made food with beef and mutton; the dinner will be Nang (a Uygur bread), tea or noodles and so forth.
Famous fruits in Xinjiang
Besides delicious food, Xinjiang is also known as the 'Home of Fruits and Melons' Changes in temperature from morning to evening, long hours of sunshine and careful irrigation all work together to give the fruits of Xingjian bright color and sweet pulp. There are hundreds of species of grapes, muskmelons, watermelons, apples, pears, apricots, peaches, pomegranates, cherries, figs, and walnuts, and large quantities of fruits and melons are transported to other parts of the country and abroad.
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