Xinjiang Cuisine

Last night, Jeff and I took Beth to one of our favorite local restaurants, which specializes in food from China's Xinjiang province. Xinjiang is home to the Uyghurs, who are Sunni Muslim Turks (and have been at the heart of much of the ethnic violence in western China in recent years.) The food is delicious - spicier than Shanghainese and richer in flavor. They specialize in lamb kebabs (which are cooked over a fire outside), but it is easy to put together a vegetarian meal, which we did last night.

We ate homemade yogurt with raisins, shredded potatoes, green beans with chili peppers, tofu cooked in a clay pot, sesame flat bread, and a cold tomato and onion salad. To drink, we had tea and Tsingtao beer. And, for dessert, we had toffee apples - caramelized apples that are served hot and need to be separated right away before they harden. What a feast! I'll definitely miss this place. Luckily, there are a few Xinjiang-style restaurants in the U.S., so I may have to seek those out. More pictures here: http://hsinchina.shutterfly.com/4632.