There is one dish in Chinese cuisine that may seem out of the ordinary to the casual non-Chinese glutton, seemingly because from afar it looks like fried rice, but upon closer inspection its looks resemble that of a Middle Eastern dish. That’s certainly because it’s a popular Uyghur dish from Xinjiang province in far western China and the dish can be traced back through several Central Asian countries like Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Turkey. The flavors differentiate a bit as do its names; polo (Uyghur), palau (Kazak), palov (Uzbek), plov (Russian), pilav (Turkish), and pilaf to Westerners. Let’s learn more about the dish before setting foot in one of the many Halal Xinjiang restaurants around Beijing.
To the first time eater, Uyghur rice pilaf can look somewhat greasy. That’s because it certainly is. The rice soaks up the juicy and fragrant fat and flavor of lamb meat along with the generous amounts of oil that the dish is cooked in. Along with the lamb and rice, the dish also calls for carrots – specifically yellow carrots that are local to Xinjiang province. Onions, of course, bring great aroma and flavor out of the lamb, as well do spices like cumin, salt and pepper. Cooking and assembling the dish requires the general order of first browning the lamb, stewing it with onions, then adding the carrots and rice. However, the process requires good effort because you wouldn’t want the rice to be undercooked or overcooked. Cooks around China will use a large cooking vessel that resembles a heavy wok but has higher sides to contain the large portion being cooked. The bottom is thick to help keep the dish from being burnt. In some parts of Xinjiang, you can find cooks making Uyghur rice pilaf in large vessels surrounded by chairs serving just that.
Making the dish requires a great amount of effort and is best prepared for small feasts. Luckily in Beijing, there is no shortage of Halal restaurants where you can find this awesome and affordable dish. So now that you’re most likely salivating at the mouth learning about this dish, why don’t you go out and have a try yourself?
