Uyghur · snack
Lamb Skewers (Yangrou Chuan)
羊肉串 · Yángròu Chuàn
Cubed lamb skewered and grilled over charcoal, dusted with cumin and chilli. Universal northern street food.
Lamb skewers — cubed fatty lamb on bamboo or metal skewers, grilled over charcoal with cumin, dried chilli flakes and salt — are universal across northern China. Origin in Xinjiang Uyghur cooking; widely adopted nationally. Eaten 5–10 sticks at a sitting with cold beer. Halal-default.
Where to try
Night markets across northern China. Xi'an Muslim Quarter is the classic.
Dietary notes
Lamb. Halal.
Cities to try Lamb Skewers (Yangrou Chuan)
Other northwest dishes
- Biangbiang Noodlesbiáng biáng 面
Wide, hand-pulled, belt-shaped Shaanxi noodles. The 'biang' character is the most complex in the Chinese language.
- Big Plate Chicken大盘鸡
A large-portioned Xinjiang braised chicken dish with potatoes, peppers and thick hand-pulled belt noodles.
- Hand-Grasped Lamb手抓羊肉
Large bone-in lamb pieces boiled in spiced water and eaten by hand — a communal dish of Inner Mongolia and the northwest.
- Laghman (Hand-Pulled Noodles with Lamb)拉条子
Uyghur hand-pulled wheat noodles with a lamb-and-vegetable sauce of tomato, pepper and onion.