Xinjiang is China's "New Frontier." I mean that literally -- the name means New Frontier. It's the homeland of the Uyghur people, a Turkic people who have a culture that's similar to their neighbors in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The population has a testy relationship with the central government in Beijing. Uyghur captives at Gitmo were released and sent to Albania because the Chinese government would've tortured them if they had returned home. Imagine my surprise when I saw Omar Halal, a Uyghur restaurant on New Avenue in San Gabriel, around the corner from the Great Mall of China. I saw it there a few weeks ago when I was getting a hair cut. Then this last week an article about it appeared in the Los Angeles Times. So today I decided to give the place a try.
We gave a few representative dishes a try. First up was Xinjiang Hand Zhuafan, a Uyghur palao. The short-grain rice was steeped in a subtle broth that was lightly spiced. The rice was accented with slices of mutton, golden raisins, carrots, and a dried apricot. I'm not really a fan of short-grain rice, but I thought it was OK. My friend thought it was like Omar had poured Swanson broth into Uncle Ben's rice. I don't think I'd go that far!
I got hand-pulled noodles too. It was entertaining watching the woman prepare them. You'd see her stretch them out through the air, occasionally hitting them on the counter with a loud "thwack." The dish was complemented with a sauce that had celery, green peppers, lamb, and chillies. It was a little like chop suey, but I did appreciate the toothy texture of the noodles. It's something that the Taiwanese refer to as "Q" -- an al dente quality that's quite pleasing.
Beef kabobs were a little fatty, but heavily flavored with cumin. I thought they were tasty, but next time I'll get the lamb. Or maybe I'll try the "haggis soup" that's featured too.
