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Uyghur cuisine (, уйғур таамлири; p=wéiwú'ěr cài) is the cuisine of the Uyghurs, which are mainly situated in the autonomous region of Xinjiang.
The cuisine is characterized by ingredients like roasted mutton and beef, as well as kebab and rice dishes. Traditionally, specific dishes like pilaf are eaten with one's bare hands instead of with utensils like , or chopsticks. Signature dishes include polo, laghman and Tandyr nan. Because the majority of Uyghur people are Muslim, the food is predominantly halal.
After the Uyghurs accepted Islam as their state religion in the 1060s, many adopted a halal diet. By this time, they had shifted to an agricultural lifestyle. The area around Hotan was regarded as especially fertile and yielded a large variety of fruits, which led to the gradual settlement of people throughout the region. With this change, the food sources were diversified and flour-based dishes, mutton, and vegetables became integral to the cuisine. The Compendium of the Languages of the Turks from 1074, for example, lists a total of 14 types of bread made from wheat flour and we know from its descriptions that noodles, rice, millet, chöchüre (; a kind of dumpling soup), and sausages made from grains and meat were also commonly eaten. Many traditional Uyghur cooking methods also date back to around this time of the Karakhan Empire.
Since the Tarim Basin was located along the Silk Road, Uyghur cuisine has been influenced by various Chinese cuisine, seasonings, and cooking methods, such as stir-frying, which were introduced from the east after the Tang dynasty. In recent years, Russian cuisine has spread to Uyghurs from countries like the Kyrgyz Republic, which was once part of the Soviet Union. In addition, some people around Turfan have started practicing Buddhism, making vegetarian dishes more prevalent in this region.
In 2023, the Kashgar public security bureau stated, "Muslim halal customs create an unbridgeable gap between Uyghur and Han people and widen the distance between them as would an invisible wall."
Typical spices include salt, black pepper, cumin seeds, and red pepper flakes. Red pepper flakes are used to make laza (Лаза), a chili sauce made with garlic and hot oil and commonly served with läghmän or benschä, Uyghur-style dumplings. and butter are also used for flavoring dishes.
Unlike many ethnic groups, Uyghur people are typically not lactose-intolerant and dairy products such as kumis (; a mare milk drink), ayran, and yogurt are therefore consumed frequently.
As the majority of Uyghur people are Muslim, their food shares similarities to that of other Muslim peoples in Asia, such as Uzbeks, Kazakhs, and Turkish people. Similarly, many Uyghur dishes can also be found among other ethnic groups in Central Asia. A traditional Uyghur-style breakfast might consist of nan and milk tea, which might be topped with Fruit preserves or honey and eaten with , , and other nuts.
Guests are greeted with tea, Naan, pastries, and fruits before the main dishes are ready.
Another typical Uyghur dish is polo (, полу; p=zhuāfàn), a variation of pilaf, a dish that can be found throughout Central Asia. It is made by frying mutton or chicken, onions, and thinly sliced carrots in oil before adding rice and water and steaming it. and may also be added. While it is traditionally made in a cast-iron pan, nowadays it is often transferred to a rice cooker for steaming. To balance out the oiliness of the polo, it is commonly served with salad or cold Rice vermicelli with raw vegetables ( pintoza ham säy; ). A simple dish of steamed white rice with stir-fried vegetables is called gangpen (; p=gānfàn).
There are also many varieties of soups, the most popular ones being Chorba (, Шорпа; p=yáng tāng), a lamb soup, and suykash (), a type of soup made with noodles, meat, and vegetables such as potatoes and . A special kind of suykash is tashlap suykash (, which contains handmade noodles that are pulled and then ripped into small, thumb-size pieces and thrown into the boiling soup. There are also like yapma (), which is made with lamb or beef, onions, potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes.
Like in many East Asia and countries, congee is also eaten by the Uyghur people, which is called shoyla () in Uyghur. Aside from congee, there is also umaq, corn porridge made with Maize flour, onion, turnips, and tomatoes and seasoned with salt.
A dish that has been adapted from Chinese cuisine and Russian cuisine is manta ((), a steamed dumpling filled with meat and Chinese cabbage or spinach. There are many varieties of this dish: pitir-manta (), which features a thinner wrapper and may also contain zucchini or pumpkin; boluq manta (), which uses a significantly thicker, yeasted dough; benschä, a smaller version that is boiled in water instead of steamed; and chöchüre, which are shaped like tortellini and are served in a tomato-based soup broth.
A dish that gained popularity in the mid to late 1990s is dapanji (; p=dàpánjī) or chong texse toxu qorumis (), a Chinese-Uyghur fusion dish. A spicy, hot chicken stew is served on a big plate and after the chicken has been eaten, flat, hand-pulled noodles are added to the remaining sauce. The dish was invented in Shawan, Xinjiang by a migrant from Sichuan who mixed hot chili peppers with chicken and potatoes in an attempt to reproduce a Sichuan cuisine.
There are also such as Youtazi (, йутаза; p=yóutiáozi), which is a multi-layered type of bread made with animal fat. A style of yeasted fried bread called peushkel () is typically eaten with soups and stews. A multi-layered, thin, pan-fried bread called qatlima () is usually prepared using leftover dough from other dishes.
Aside from nan, there are also many types of filled bread such as samsa (, Самса; p=kǎo bāozi), which are hand-held lamb pies roasted in a tunur. A flat, pan-grilled variety with a similar filling is called göshnan (, Гөшнан; p=náng bāo ròu). Aside from lamb, baked pamirdin pies also stuffed with onions and carrots. Sambusa () are fried Uyghur empanada filled with meat, rice, and carrots.
There is also a large scope of fried desserts. Eshme quymaq () or maxar (; p=máhuār) are twisted doughnuts, which are widely sold by street vendors. They are often made from two separate doughs: one sweetened with honey and the other with sugar. The honey dough takes on a deeper color while frying, giving the doughnuts a dual-colored appearance. Another street snack is matang, a thick and chewy bar consisting of various nuts held together by a sugar syrup that is usually sold by the slice.
A holiday specialty is sangza (, Саңза; p=sǎnzi), a snack made by pulling a dough made of wheat flour into thin ropes and deep frying them. The crispy ropes are then twisted around each other and piled high on top of each other.
Halva () is a sweet porridge made with corn flour and cooked with chopped onions, turnips, and tomatoes. It is also often eaten during sickness as the sweet stickiness of the porridge coats the throat and alleviates soreness.
A sweet version of manta called sheker manta () is often given as a treat to children. They are stuffed with walnuts and honey or brown sugar, the latter of which melts during steaming, soaking the inside of the dumpling in a thick, sweet syrup.
Fruits are also an important component of the Uyghur diet and are eaten as snacks with or in-between meals. Commonly eaten fruits include grapes, apples, watermelons, apricots, and .
While green tea is more popular with the Han Chinese, Uyghurs prefer black tea ( qara chai, ), which is often drunk with milk to make süt chay (). Other commonly consumed teas include hibiscus tea ( xish chay, ) and etken chay (, әткәнчай)). Etken chay is a type of milk tea that has travelled from India to China via the Silk Road. It is made by boiling an equal amount of black tea and milk together and adding salt. Sometimes, butter, sour cream, or various spices are added. The tea is typically served with cake and in a bowl, although typically are used for other types of tea. The tea may have sprinkled on top.
Milk-based drinks are popular as well. Raxap () is a type of drinkable yogurt, whereas doghap () is a chilled version of a similar drink. Ayran (), a salty yogurt-based drink that is especially popular in Turkey, can also be found in Uyghur communities. A slightly alcoholic variation is kumis (), which is made from fermented mare milk and dates all the way back to the 11th century, where it was first mentioned in the Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk.
Due to the warm climate in Xinjiang, the area is highly suited for fermentation, which popularized alcoholic beverages in the area. The most popular beer brands are "Wusu", a subsidiary label of the Carlsberg Group which is produced in Xinjiang and is known for having a higher alcohol content than regular Chinese beers, and "Sinkiang Black Beer", a nutty black beer made to complement the typical flavors found in Uyghur dishes.
Since Xinjiang is known for its grapes and vineyards, wine is also one of its strongest products. Especially Turfan has been an important part of the local economy and has been well known for its wine since the Tang dynasty. Their medicinal liquor called museles () is made from pickling sliced deer antler, saffron, cardamom, and other spices in wine, infusing it with said flavors. The wine is produced commercially and is also exported outside of the region. Another variety of fruit wine is called sharap ().
Kvass (, квас), a slightly Carbonation low-alcohol soft drink made of cereal is consumed by Uyghurs as well. It may be flavored with berries, fruits, herbs, or honey.
Through franchising, Uyghur cuisine has also found its way outside of China. The Old Mandarin Islamic Restaurant in San Francisco opened in 1997. In April 2015, the restaurant chain Herembağ (, Һәрәмбағ; p=Hǎi'ěr bā gé) opened its first store in San Francisco in the United States and later expanded with ten more locations within North America. Other popular franchises that service Uyghur food include Yershari, Loulan, Tarhar, and Ali Jiang.
In Japan, Uyghur cuisine is available at specialty restaurants in Sakura-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, and Shinjuku, Tokyo. In its September 2010 issue, the outdoor magazine BE-PAL described läghmän as using pork instead of mutton and subsequently had to issue an apology for their mistake in November 2010.
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