Lagman Pulled Noodles

Lagman (lātiáozi in local Mandarin) is the noodle dish of Xinjiang's Uyghur and Hui Muslim communities, shared across Central Asian cultures from Kazakhstan to Afghanistan. Thick, chewy wheat noodles are hand-pulled to roughly pencil thickness, then boiled and dressed with a sauce of lamb, yellow and red bell peppers, tomatoes, celery, onion, garlic and cumin — simmered until the vegetables soften and the lamb is tender. The sauce is ladle over the noodles; diners can request a drier or wetter version depending on preference. A chilli oil condiment is served on the side. The noodle-pulling technique is similar to Lanzhou beef noodles but yields a thicker, more toothsome strand. Lagman is served in Uyghur restaurants across China, particularly in cities with large western-Chinese Muslim communities.