Piyazi (piy?z) is the Persian word for onion.
Because of the deep love for pi yazi
Perhaps even Xinjiang people don't realize that "pi yazi", or onions, are the thunderous characters in Xinjiang cuisine.
It's no wonder that Xinjiang cuisine is so amazing. Naan, that is the light of the staple food of the people of Xinjiang; mutton , is also enough to proud of the world; there is also a heroic grab rice , a different style of pulling the son , a small and exquisite baked bun , and the other baked bun . strong> ...... Each one of them makes you want to indulge even if you've gained a lot of weight.
▲ Naan, the light of Xinjiang's staple food!
However, all of these household names in the food world can't be separated from the naan - naan is flavored with naan, lamb is flavored with naan, and baked buns are stuffed with crushed naan. In the case of rice and ramen, piandan is an indispensable ingredient. Even the Xinjiang Grand Theater in Urumqi, which is similar in shape, is affectionately known as the "Grand Theater of PiYaoZi".
▲ Urumqi's "Piyazi Grand Theater".
People's food may only be a fleeting part of a dish, but when you look at the whole of Xinjiang's flavor scene, it's a major player!
PiYangZi of Xinjiang people, just as garlic in the north, onions in Shandong people , cooking is naturally indispensable, raw food is more wild and unrestrained.
The so-called "eat meat without garlic, less than half of the flavor", for the most like mutton people in Xinjiang, skin teeth replaced the raw garlic, to become a digestive relief, to enhance the flavor of "meat For Xinjiang people, pi yazhi replaces raw garlic as a "meat condiment" that reduces fat and enhances flavor, and has the effect of lowering blood lipids. Therefore, a "skin" in the hand, you can let go of the belly, eat meat, pain in the carnival of meat eaters.
▲ PiYangZi is a vegetable, then eat a meal of mutton with PiYangZi, rounded up also counted weight loss. Photography/Guardian Angel Photo/Tuyong - Creative
In Xinjiang, the most homemade approach to lamb is undoubtedly clean stew. Good ingredients often only need to use the most simple way of cooking, a large piece of lamb into the pot stewed until the meat rotten, during which onion, ginger, salt, pepper and other seasonings at the discretion of personal taste moderate put, however, out of the pot, a large leather teeth strips essential.
The original stewed lamb is delicate and soft, with a strong meat flavor; the skin is spicy and crisp, but the mouth has a sweetness. The two textures complement each other, and the flavors fit together. When the tenderness and juiciness of stewed lamb meets the sweetness and spiciness of piyazi, it's a "golden wind and jade dew" that's better than the rest of the world.
▲ ▲ retro enameled teapot, is the cylinder meat standard. Photography/User Wolf of the North Photo/Tuyumo-Creative
Cashiers invented jar meat, which is a pocket-sized version of stewed mutton. Vintage enameled teapots are lined up on the stove, to which ingredients such as mutton, carrots, and pi yang zi are added, and in some cases "chamakou", a Xinjiang specialty. This time, the mutton and pi yazi in a small tea pot "long talk", in the continuous stewing into one, the pi yazi disappeared into the meat of the fragrance and the sweetness of the soup.
▲ Sprinkle a pinch of salt, it is enough to stimulate the flavor of the mutton. Photography/Star of the Sheepherder
And Xinjiang's most famous barbecue, even more so, needs a helping hand from PiYangZi.
The practice of barbecue can be described as a "minimalist style": ingredients, lamb is often "three thin and one fat", no additional brush oil, fat in the sheep's oil will naturally nuisance out of the infiltration of lean meat; seasoning, the sheep's oil will nuisance out of the infiltration of
When the time is right, spread the shiny meat skewers on the naan, cut a few slices of pita and eat them with a mouthful of meat and a mouthful of "pita", the greasy flavor of the fat is completely dissolved by the pita, leaving only the fascinating smell of smoke and fire and the long-lasting aroma of barbecued meat.
▲ Xinjiang barbecue meat authentic eating. Photograph/wangzfjuv Photo/tupelo-creative
In Urumqi in northern Xinjiang, there is another kind of kebabs called Seppi (pronounced like "CP"). (pronounced like "CP") is a type of kebab called Seppi (pronounced like "CP"), in which a sheep's spleen is hollowed out and stuffed with crushed skin, minced fat lamb, and minced lamb's liver, and then sealed and grilled on a rack. As the fat melts with the skin, the aroma of the fat and the skin become intertwined, creating a taste that's not unlike the extremely tender roasted kidney.
In addition to mutton, pirogue is also a companion to horse meat, beef, and other ingredients. Kazakh naren, generally speaking, the lower layer of the pavement, the upper layer is lined with a large amount of horsemeat and PiYaoZi, and then boil a pot of milk tea to relieve fatigue and digestion; there is also a kind of "horse intestines", the horse meat stuffed into the horse intestines, and then made after the thin slices, with the PiYaoZi strips eaten is also a delicious flavor. The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you have a good meal, and that you have a good flavor.
▲ Horse intestines, a very special food in Xinjiang.
For the people of Xinjiang, mutton is the irreplaceable master of the table, and pi yazi is the irreplaceable partner of mutton, New Zealand is "mutton flavor", and also "pi yazi flavor".
If the face of the lamb, the skin is still just playing auxiliary, then in the staple food, it is around the flavor of the core ingredients, in Xinjiang's three staple food - naan, rice, pulling the son of in the skin can be " Naan, rice, and pulled pork, the piandan can take control of the whole scene.
▲ Piyazi naan in Xinjiang.
Naan is a staple food of the Xinjiang people. Yet few outsiders know that the crispy naan bread is often coated with salt water and minced onions before being baked in the naan pit. Under the heat, the bread expands and turns brown, and the skin turns black and grainy, the spicy, slightly sweet flavors seeping into the naan and giving it a richer, more layered texture.
By the time the naan comes out of the pit, the wheat flavor of the naan bread is mixed with the fragrance of the pi yangzi, and a bite of the naan bread makes you feel as if you are in a farm in late fall, with the wind blowing the wheat, the land is fresh, and the eyes are full of a ripe golden color.
▲ Naan and meat match, need onions to match. Photograph/Moody_21 Picture/Photo Gallery
In Xinjiang's naan, there's no soy sauce or curry to add color, or ginger, star anise, or peppercorns to flavor the dish, just the original rice, lamb, carrots, carrots, and the main character of the dish, Piyazi. PiYaoZi, together in the cauldron stir-fry, fusion, intertwined, emitting only the aroma of lamb, vegetables and rice itself.
Xinjiang people do grab rice, most will use an extremely thick iron pot, in order to conduct heat slowly, can let the heat slowly and continuously exudes, complete "stew" this process. After a long stew finally on the table, diners but it is difficult to find the trail of the skin teeth in the rice - it is completed after the seasoning, it has been "matter of whisking clothes to go", melt themselves in the hot rice, you can not see the figure of it, rice but The first thing you need to do is to get your hands dirty.
▲ The flavor of the rice is amazing when it is fried and stewed in a big pot.
In contrast to the low-profile of the rice, the pi yangzi is a big deal in the latte of the Xinjiang people, who are known for their latte.
How many kinds of pulled pork are there in Xinjiang? minced meat with noodles, spicy egg with noodles, eggplant meat with noodles, leeks with noodles, over-oiled meat with noodles ...... at least a few dozen kinds, simply can not be counted, and even the people of Xinjiang people often eat pulling the son do not pick the ingredients, the big plate in the hands of what to put what, the style of the different regions is also very different. However, only the skin teeth of the thunder, in the pasta world is almost a hundred existence.
▲ According to a friend from Xinjiang, only vegetables and noodles are packed separately, which is the authentic way of eating piandanzi in Xinjiang.
The best of the best
The best of the best pulled pork is the oil, which is used to make the meat, the noodles, and the color of the vegetables. However, oil can make a plate of noodles, but it can also make the noodles too greasy, the appearance of the skin teeth is to make the greasiness is neutralized by half, and then break a few cloves of garlic, a strong combination of people's appetites.
The love of Xinjiang people for their hometown, is to be spicy to tears before enough flavor.
In the night market at the beginning of the lights, move a few plastic stools, before waiting for the barbecue meat on the field, Xinjiang people often ask for a plate of "skin spicy red" - strong> PiYangZi + chili + tomato , is a pre-dinner appetizer. These three ingredients are either sour or spicy or sweet with spicy, are good to stimulate the appetite, and then gulp down a few mouthfuls of "life-threatening big ouzo", a night full of fireworks began.
▲ "Pi Spicy Red", also known as "Tiger Vegetable", as the name suggests, is a combination of pi yangzi, chili peppers and tomatoes.
The other main material of the Xinjiang roasted buns, which can be breakfast, can be afternoon tea, and even as a late-night snack is also highly sought after.
▲ Roasted buns, or the most lovely in Hotan. Photography / sheepherder's star
Many places in Xinjiang have baked buns, only Heatian baked buns is round, the flavor is also renowned throughout the territory. Don't look at the buns are not big, the thin crust is almost stuffed with meat filling, which lamb leg meat, sheep oil diced and skin teeth crushed "three worlds", especially sheep oil and skin teeth *** with the same force, so that the baked buns are extremely tender and juicy, and sheep oil and skin teeth*** with power. The buns are extremely juicy and richly layered with a sweet flavor.
Freshly baked buns have the best flavor, but the body is hard and round, no way to eat. Xinjiang people tend to end up with a bowl of local medicine tea , the first flat end of the buckle down, wait until the crust is soft, with a knife from the bottom of the pry open the formation of a concentrated broth full of "edible bowl", eat meat and soup while hot, and then the gravy moistened crust into the belly, and finally even the medicine tea. The last thing you want to do is to take the herbal tea and sip it all away.
▲ Take a bite out of the bun when it's not looking. After all, when it is an onion, just a dispensable condiment; however, when it becomes the skin teeth, it is enough to become a reason to make a meal alive.
So in the homesickness, each of the teeth of the skin on behalf of the people of Xinjiang on the homeland of the longing, peeling layer after layer of nostalgia, sometimes sweet aftertaste, sometimes tears.
"Did you choke on the onions?"
"No, I'm homesick."
- END -
文丨九月
*Special thanks to Kut, Lao Li