Flavors of the Chinese Silk Road
(丝路上的美食)
The ancient Silk Road—a network of routes that connected China to the Central Asia and finally Europe—started from Chang’an (长安), the modern-day Xi’an (西安). Through the Silk Road, merchants in camel and horse caravans from the west and south brought their musical instruments, rugs, ceramics, lacquer-wares, and spices to China and took back home silk, tea, paper, and other treasures. Thousands of foreigners from the Western Regions—Persians, Arabs, Hindu, Turks, Uighurs, and Jews—came to China through the Silk Road, where people travelled, exchanged news, and enjoyed food and entertainment, making it a melting pot of cultures. Today, the Chinese segment of the Silk Road—connecting Kashgar (喀什, near China’s western border), Urumqi (乌鲁木齐), Dunhuang (敦煌), Jiayuguan (嘉峪关), Lanzhou (兰州), and Xi’an (西安)—reflects the legacy of cultural diversity, including its foods, of the ancient Silk Road.
While the western part of this modern Silk Road lies in China’s Xinjiang province (新疆), its cuisine shares little with traditional Chinese food. Many foods of this region—such as pilaf (手抓饭), kebab (烤肉串), samsa (烤包子), and nang (馕饼)—have Central Asian origins. In both Xinjiang and Central Asia cuisines, cumin, cinnamon, garlic, saffron, and sesame are commonly used for seasoning food.
Among the endless food choices in Xinjiang is the popular pilaf (opening image). It first appeared in the Muslim world in about 700 CE and became paella in Spain, pilav in Turkiye, palaw in Iran, pilau in India, and polo among the Uyghurs and Kazakhs in Xinjiang. It is a cooking method where a meat, usually mutton, is first cooked in oil, garlic, and onion. Rice, an abundance of carrot strips, and a cooking liquid, like water or stock, are then added. The result is a flavorful, one-pot dish where the rice does not clump together and has a fluffy texture. Traditionally this dish is eaten with one’s bare hands, thus giving it the Chinese name of 手抓饭 (hand-grabbed rice).
Another popular Xinjiang food, often eaten as a snack, is samsa, which shares the same name as samosa in India, sambosa in Afghanistan, and sambusa in Iran. In Central Asia and Xinjiang, samsas are almost always baked in tonur ovens, while they are deep-fried in South Asia. Tonur is known as tamdyr in Central Asia and tandoor in South Asia. The most common filling is a mixture of minced mutton and onion, but beef, chicken, or potato is also common. A warm and intensely-flavored samsa is the ultimate comfort food for anyone.
A staple of Xinjiang’s Uyghur and Kazakh population is nang (馕饼), which has its root in “nan” in Persian, a generic word for bread. The bread’s dough is made from low-gluten flour to produce a very soft bread. Black onion seeds, sesame seeds, or a flurry of chopped garlic are then sprinkled on the dough before it is flattened and stretched on top of a curved cushion into clock-size rounds with curly edges. The rounds are then stamped with a spiked tool to produce a laced-pattern of holes to help the bread cook quickly and evenly. The baker then reaches into the tonur to stick the rounds onto the hot oven’s wall, where they will turn golden brown within minutes. Because it is often baked outdoors, the aroma—buttery, nutty, and yeasty—permeates many neighborhoods, and the warm nang tastes every bit as good as it smells.
Kawap, a Uyghur word for kebab, is inclusive of all grilled mutton. The most common form, especially as a street food, is the skewer. The skewers are turned continually and basted frequently, and when they are almost done, salt, pepper paprika and cumin are sprinkled on them. The resulting kebab is slightly salty, spicy, crispy outside, and tender inside. They are not only popular in Xinjiang, but also favored by the masses of the whole of China. A famous Xinjiang delicacy is roasted whole lamb. The slaughtered lamb is smeared and rubbed evenly all over with a paste made of flour, water, salt, eggs, turmeric, pepper, and cumin. It is then roasted in a special tandoor pit. Needless to say, the roasted lamb is delicious and is a must for any visitor.
As you travel eastward from Xinjiang on the Silk Road, you will see more and more Chinese influence in food choices. Dominated by noodles, a staple in northern China, these choices include dapanji (大盘鸡, aka big-plate chicken), juanziji (卷子鸡, aka rolled-pancake chicken), nuiroumian (牛肉面, aka beef noodles), and biangbiangmian ( 面).
Dapanji is a modern Xinjiang dish. Large chunks of chicken are first browned in a big pot to develop flavor, then simmered with the spices and vegetables until tender. Potatoes are added partway through cooking so they can soak up the sauce without becoming too soft. Hand-pulled noodles are finally added towards the end of cooking, absorbing the savory sauce and making the dish more filling.
Juanziji is a popular dinner dish in Gansu Province (甘肃). The cooking involves first rolling up a large, chewy, pancake made from unleavened dough and cutting the rolled-pancake into sections of about an inch wide. Chicken pieces and the pancake sections are then braised in seasonings and a sauce until the liquid is completely reduced. The pancake sections—spreading out like noodles and thoroughly absorbing the taste of the chicken and seasonings—become the focal point of this dish.
A daily bowl of nuiroumian (beef noodles) is a must for most Lanzhou (兰州) residents. It includes a clear broth with thick slides of turnip and made-to-order noodles topped with chopped green onions. Most people eat this dish with a healthy amount of chili sauce and a side dish of sliced beef. Lanzhou beef noodles are made with hand-pulled noodles. As the name implies, hand-pulled noodles are formed by pulling the dough by hand into long, elastic strands and then folding them together. Each fold doubles the number of noodle strands. So just a few repetitions of pull-and-fold creates dozens of noodle strands—the more repetitions, the finer the noodles.
Biangbiangmian is popular in Xi’an. These hand-made, inch-wide noodles are thick and wide like a belt. The name comes from the sound when the noodles hit on the work surface while being pulled. The stretching and banging of the dough help make the noodles chewy and shiny. The noodles go well with or without soup and can be mixed with seasonings to one’s taste.
The cuisine of China’s northwest provinces, primarily Xinjiang, Gansu, and Shaanxi, combines influence from Central and South Asian, Middle Eastern, and Chinese elements, creating a diverse and flavorful culinary tradition that reflects centuries of cultural exchange and adaptation.