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Written by Wei Shuihua Header image | Food Photography Ouli There are two main schools of lamb in Xinjiang. The sheep in northern Xinjiang are cold sheep, with the largest number in the Altay region. Due to the abundant grass and water and low temperature, lamb grows slowly, with a high fat ratio and high water content. It is best to chop it into large pieces and cook it in your hands. Just dip it in some salt to taste the incomparable sweetness of lamb. Of course, some people also grill it, simply marinating it with a mixture of eggs, onions and salt and then grilling it in an open oven. Eggs are used to color and enhance the flavor, coating the surface of the lamb with a layer of browned and crispy coating; salt is used to add flavor, and at the same time it can change the nature of protein and make the lean meat more chewy; onions are used to remove the smell of mutton. The three marinades have clear responsibilities and a clear structure. The southern Xinjiang sheep are alkali sheep. As the name suggests, the sheep here live in semi-desert saline-alkali land and eat alkali plants. Due to the large temperature difference and poor vegetation, the mutton has almost no smell. It can be roasted directly without any seasoning or wrapped in baked buns to obtain an extraordinary taste. But in Kashgar, the locals who pursue food treat mutton with rich and complex spices and sophisticated methods. Based on the fat and tender alkali sheep, an unparalleled taste palace is built. How is the delicious Kashgar cultivated?
▲Photo/Lai Yuning No.1 The geography of Kashi is very unique. To its east is the endless Taklimakan Desert, and to its west is the Pamir Plateau, known as the roof of the world. In such a harsh geographical environment, a large oasis suitable for human survival has grown, relying on the irrigation and nourishment of the meltwater from the Pamir snow-capped mountains.
Since its birth, Kashgar has been full of legendary colors of risking one's life and then being reborn. Because of the uniqueness of its water and soil, Kashgar's products also have characteristics different from other places: Shache melon is a vine fruit that grows on the edge of the desert. Because the irrigation of snow-melt water is highly seasonal, melons have evolved a whole set of biological mechanisms to cope with nature. During the flood season, it absorbs as much water and nutrients as possible, relies on the long-term local sunlight, breeds and produces a large amount of nutrients, and stores them in the melon body, "leaving surplus food" for the dry season. Therefore, Shache melon has the characteristics of large melon shape, high sweetness, and not easy to rot. Once cut open, sweet juice flows all over the place. For humans, the word "delicious" is enough to summarize it.
Kashgar Tielimu cumin is also known as "Parthian fennel". Yes, it is the specialty of the Parthian Empire mentioned in "A Record of the Western Regions of the Great Tang Dynasty". In Uyghur, it is better known as "cumin".
In order to adapt to the dry local natural environment, this spice plant produces a large amount of volatile oil with a strong spicy flavor in its seeds and stems. It can retain water, prevent insects and mildew.
The weapon of plants eventually became a tool for humans to create delicious food. After grinding the local cumin into powder, the people of Kashgar add it to meat to enhance the flavor, use it to mix vegetables to enhance the flavor, and even mix it into milk tea to create a refreshing and hunger-satisfying snack for the common people. The Duolang sheep is a fine breed of alkaline sheep in southern Xinjiang. Because it is most abundant in Maigaiti County under the jurisdiction of Kashgar, it is also called Maigaiti Duolang. Because they live in an oasis with rich vegetation, the Duolang sheep have evolved a longer small intestine structure than ordinary sheep. They can fully digest and absorb various green fodders and dry fodders, and synthesize them into a fat system with a more complete fatty acid structure, which can not only keep out the cold, but also prevent heatstroke. Therefore, the adult Duolang sheep looks larger and stronger than ordinary sheep.
Specifically on the dining table, the tender and plump characteristics of Duolang mutton have become a part of the delicious table in Kashgar.
No.2 The natural conditions with two advantages will inevitably create a long-standing civilization. The same is true for the Kashgar region. In Uyghur, Kashgar is pronounced "kashgar". It is only one syllable away from the Kashmir region (Kashmir) that India and Pakistan are still fighting over. In fact, these two neighboring places do have a strong connection. In the Turkic language family, "Kashgar" means "a place rich in beautiful jade" and "Kashmir" means "a place rich in gems". A long time ago, a branch of the Indo-European race, the ancient Sai people, settled in this land. They were well-fed and well-clothed, and could also mine gold, jade and gems that humans dream of. When the granaries are full, people know etiquette; when they have enough food and clothing, they know honor and disgrace. Economically developed places often mean prosperous culture, and further, they also create rich and sophisticated cooking methods and eating habits. In the 2nd century BC, when the Silk Road was opened, Zhang Qian, an envoy from the Han Empire, was amazed by the rich products here and the civilization form that was very different from that in the Central Plains. From here, Zhang Qian brought back sesame, watermelon, garlic, grapes, pomegranates and other plant seeds that had been highly domesticated by humans, and eventually became the most important component of the Chinese diet. It is no exaggeration to say that without the Kashgar region as a node for the spread of civilization, the development history of Chinese cuisine would have been slowed down by hundreds of years.
Today, the food of the people of Kashgar still retains a lot of ancient characteristics of the Indo-European people. The famous "Nang" means "bread" in Persian, and its production method of using butter, wheat flour and deep baking is also intriguingly similar to bread. The only difference is that due to the dry climate in Kashgar, it is difficult for yeast, the driving force behind the softness of bread, to survive and grow. The clever locals invented a "Nang Poke", which uses fine iron needles to poke countless fine holes on the surface of the naan bread to create a fluffy taste in a physical way.
This is not only a compromise made by humans in the face of the natural environment, but also an example of the evolution of taste.
The Tajiks living on the Pamir Plateau are the only European people living in mainland China. They love chocolate, but since it is impossible to grow cocoa beans at high altitudes, the locals collect the "milk skin" from cow and sheep milk, which is pure milk fat, and add high-gluten wheat flour and sucrose to it, then boil and concentrate it repeatedly to make the world's unique Tajik chocolate without cocoa.
The cream brings a smooth taste, the wheat flour acts as a coagulant, and the caramel obtained by boiling the cane sugar gives Tajik chocolate a color close to that of real chocolate, and a slight bitter taste similar to cocoa beans. Smart!
No.3 Three men are innocent, but they are guilty of possessing a treasure. Although the Kashgar region has been China's inherent territory since the Western Han Dynasty, its rich mineral resources and its delicate geographical location at the crossroads of the world have attracted the covetousness of various powers in West Asia, South Asia, and Northeast Asia. The Battle of Kashgar, which took place around 1000 AD, was a watershed in the history of Central Asia.
The Karakhanid Khanate, founded by the Uighurs of Northeast Asia, and the Kingdom of Khotan, which was deeply influenced by the Tang Empire, copied the political and social system of the Central Plains, and even had many Han people living in the city of Kashgar, fought a decisive battle. In the end, the Han-style infantry phalanx of the Khotanese was defeated by the charge of the Karakhanid cavalry equipped with full Persian equipment. After this battle, until Emperor Qianlong defeated the Dzungars and took back Kashgar in 1755, for more than 700 years, the Han customs disappeared here.
In today's Uyghur language, China is called "Xitay", which means "Khitan". This is the misunderstanding caused by the long-term isolation after the Tang and Song dynasties. But in fact, many of the Tang and Song dynasties are still hidden in the eating habits of Kashgar. The locals cut the fat and lean mutton into small pieces, mix it with onions as stuffing, wrap it in wheat dough and steam it. In the end, they get a food with soft and delicious mutton and crispy mutton oil that penetrates into the dough. The Uyghur language calls it "Pitimanta", which is actually the reverse transliteration of the Chinese word "mantou". Today, snack shops in Kashgar have added the Chinese annotation "thin-skin buns" to this food.
Youtazi is a kind of pastry made by adding mutton fat and dough to make puff pastry, and then steaming it. It is white and shiny, with paper-thin dough and layers upon layers. For breakfast, people in Kashgar are used to having a bowl of noodle soup with two Youtazi. If you carefully study the production process of Youtazi, you will find that it has an inexplicable blood relationship with the thousand-layer steamed buns in Gansu, the crispy small sesame cakes in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and even the broken crisp buns in Yunnan and Guizhou. It is another subtle ancient relic of the reverse influence of the Central Plains culture on Kashgar.
The pigeon soup that can be found in the streets and alleys of the ancient city of Kashgar is even more interesting: pigeons live in many areas of Central and West Asia, and the sky full of pigeons and mosques is one of the representative landscapes of Central Asian countries. But the amazing thing is that in Central and West Asia, where beef and mutton are the staple food, there is rarely a habit of eating this kind of poultry. Only in Kashgar, the locals carefully process the pigeons, stew them with various medicinal materials to make a clear soup, and regard it as a wonderful thing to nourish the body. This habit is in line with the custom of the Han people in the mainland to eat pigeons as a tonic when they have just recovered from a serious illness or are too tired. The heritage of civilization and the origins of history always appear in unexpected places.
No.4
On September 25, 1949, Tao Zhiyue, then commander-in-chief of Xinjiang Provincial Security Forces of the Kuomintang, telegraphed the Xinjiang Uprising. At the end of that year, the 15th Regiment of the 5th Division under General Wang Zhen crossed the Taklimakan Desert and entered Kashgar. At the beginning of the following year, the People's Liberation Army arrived at the snow-capped China-Pakistan border on the Pamir Plateau. From then on, the Han people played the ukulele and danced the Sama dance together with the local Uyghurs, Tajiks, Kyrgyz and other ethnic groups in Kashgar, and lived together under the eagle of the Pamirs.
Kashgar, which had a tragic fate, finally returned home after nearly a thousand years of tug-of-war between various forces.
Today, the barren land that was cut off from communication has become a real crossroads of the world. Chili peppers, which originated in Central America, have become a popular dish in Kashgar cuisine. Locals use them to make delicious spicy chicken and fried rice noodles, and they also give it a nice Uyghur name, "laza", which is the transliteration of the Chinese word for "spicy pepper".
Tomatoes, which originated in South America, are grown in large quantities in Kashgar. The abundant sunshine and fertile soil make the tomatoes juicy and plump. Without any seasoning, you can taste the "flavor of the sun" when you bite the tomatoes in Kashgar. The local tomato sauce manufacturing industry has made outstanding contributions to the development of the local economy. Every year during the tomato season, the rich tomato sauce from Kashgar is continuously shipped to all parts of the world.
The prunes that originally came from the coastal areas of Western Europe have also come here. The meltwater from the snow-capped mountains has irrigated the prunes, which were not sweet enough, to become large and juicy, fresh and sweet. Whether eaten directly or dried, as long as the prunes have the prefix "Kashgar", they are delicious.
Countless local products, such as Yingjisha apricots, Yecheng pomegranates, Maigaiti pistachios, and Shufu high-gluten wheat, are also continuously sent to the huge market in mainland China through developed logistics, allowing people to taste the authentic Western cuisine and get to know a Kashgar that is changing with each passing day.
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There is a Xinjiang barbecue pub called "Mi'er Kashi" in Shanghai. Everyone who has tasted the roasted lamb in this restaurant will ask: Why is it so delicious? The owner of Kashi will modestly say: "In fact, there is no secret recipe. I only use local lamb, local spices, local oil, and local chopped nuts from Kashi." In short, it is authentic.
But at the end, he would always add that some of the food was inevitably lost during the transportation process, so the taste is far from that of Kashgar. Everyone is welcome to go to Kashgar to taste more authentic food. Yes, the taste of Kashgar can only be truly experienced by being in the mountains and rivers there. |
