Eating in Urumqi—A Intermittent Tour in Urumqi

From Turpan arrived in Urumqi, Urumqi is a transfer station of my Xinjiang trip this time. In addition to eat here, it seems I do not have anything else to do, apart from shopping, visiting a park or something...

In Urumqi I stay for about 6 days back and forth together. It's almost 6 p.m. on the first day after I reach the hotel, the next day plans to buy train tickets to Ili in booking office but the tickets are already sold out, so I book the tour to Ili and Kanas in the travel agent there. And then the third night I took the train set out to Ili, and in the sixth day morning back to Urumqi hotel, my luggage has been deposited in the hotel left luggage counter, I just take several change of clothes; the seventh day evening taking train to Kanas, the tenth day morning back to Urumqi, the eleventh day taking plane left Xinjiang.

After I put the luggage in the hotel, at the beginning of the first day to visit this new city, I just have dinner in the opposite the hotel of the small restaurant.

Beef meatball soup, taste is very strong, very delicious. In the soup there is some vegetables, noodles, and beef slices, beef balls, which is really moreish!
 

Urumqi is the ethnic minority areas, so there is Uygur, Mongolian, and the Hui Muslim cuisine from soup to nuts, from roast whole sheep to pulled noodle, from yoghurt to pilaf. Xinjiang cuisine is mainly meat, and Xinjiang kebabs are sold everywhere. In addition, Xinjiang big plate chicken, naan, roast whole sheep, milk tea, etc., are also a few of the features dishes in Urumqi. Xinjiang melons and fruits are favored by tourists, such as grapes, cantaloupe, pomegranate, Xinjiang apricot (a kind of almond), fig, flat peach, Korla pear, Ili apple, and all kinds of dried fruit.

 

Xinjiang is not only famous for the Silk Road but also famous for its nickname of "melon and fruit of the township". The six big fruit, apples, grapes, pears, peaches, bananas and oranges, except the latter two, Xinjiang is rich in other four kinds of fruits. And Xinjiang also produce cantaloupe, fig, walnut, Xinjiang apricot, pistachio, plum, apricot, jujube, etc., in addition to the common fruit such as watermelon, pear, apple, which taste is very delicious.
 



 

► Grape
Xinjiang grape is very famous around the country, especially in Turpan grapes that is the most famous. Main kinds of grapes in Xinjiang is seedless white grapes and Manaizi grape (horse milk grape), red grape, Kashgar cob, Baijiagan, Suosuo etc, for 13 varieties. Coming to Xinjiang you must have a grape feast.
 

 

► Jujube

The Xinjiang red jujube is unique geographical products in Xinjiang. The Xinjiang red jujube is also known as "Golden longevity jujube" which is tonifying and nourishing. Southern Xinjiang's Aksu, Ruoqiang, Kashgar and Hotan is the main producing area of Xinjiang red jujube, whose nutritional value is extremely high.
 

► Xinjiang Pomegranate
Xinjiang pomegranate is known as the "Anaer" in Uighur language. Kashgar is rich in high quality of pomegranate. Its fruit is large, round ball, bright red peel, and fruit surface is bright and clean, the pomegranate is in beautiful appearance. There is fresh pomegranate juice in the streets of Xinjiang which taste is unique can have a try.

 

 

It is a local famous roast steamed stuffed bun store with lot of stuffing. The wrapper is very thin, when you eat it into mouth and reek of meat. And there are many food collocations with baked steamed stuffed bun. Roast stuffed bun is characteristic of Xinjiang cuisine, there may be a lot of people do not accustomed to the roast stuffed bun. The roast stuffed bun is delicious when it is hot, and it could be a bit hard when it becomes cold. The wrapper of roast stuffed bun here baked into golden yellow, a bit like baked wheat cake, and a little like a pie, which is a strong local flavor.
 

 


 

It is authentic homely restaurant. Go to this restaurant you must have taste two dishes, one is pilaf, and the other is yogurt which is homemade: above the yogurt there is layer of hard cover, which is looks like custard with double creme, very thick and very pure. The price is cheap, but the environment is quite general.

 


Pilaf

Pilaf called “Bolao” in Uygur. It is a kind of favorite meals of Xinjiang Uygur, Uzbekistan. Pilaf main material is rice, lamb, carrot, onion and oil. Mixed them and stewed out of the rice is oily, fragrant and taste delicious. In addition, there is pilaf made from the dried fruit such as raisins, dried apricots, peaches, which called sweet pilaf or plain pilaf.

 

 

Naan is one of the favorite foods for people of all ethnic groups. This is a kind of baked bread, or brittle or soft, smell fragrant sweetness. Naan is used wheat flour as raw material, also used cornmeal, supplemented by sesame, onion, egg, oil, butter, milk, salt, sugar and other ingredients to bake. There are also other kinds of Naan such as, meat naan sesame naan, oily naan, etc.