Halal Food Guide: Urumqi — Home-Style Peppercorn Chicken and Xinjiang Flavor
Reposted from the web
Summary: Urumqi home-style peppercorn chicken is a Xinjiang halal dish built around chicken, peppercorn aroma, and everyday family cooking. This short food note keeps the original recipe-style details and photos while presenting them in clear English.
My parents-in-law came to Beijing this weekend to visit Suleiman and made us spicy numbing chicken (jiaomaji). I want to share how Hui Muslims in Urumqi make this home-style dish, which is different from what you buy in restaurants:
1. Buy a small free-range chicken weighing about 1.5 kilograms. Wash it, chop it in half, remove the tail and the tips of the claws, and clean the neck, gizzard, and liver.
2. Put the chicken in a pressure cooker, add enough water to cover it, then add a few red chili peppers, a large handful of Sichuan peppercorns, some salt, a few bay leaves, a little cinnamon, and a few ginger slices. Stew for 15 minutes.
3. Take the chicken out, put it in a basin to cool, shred it by hand, and spread a chopped green onion over the top.
4. Heat oil in a pan. Once hot, turn off the heat and add seven chopped dried chili peppers (lapizi), four spoonfuls of Sichuan peppercorns, four spoonfuls of salt, and half a spoonful of white pepper. Stir well.
5. Pour three tablespoons of chicken broth into the chili oil, then pour the mixture over the chicken in the basin. Mix well, cover with a lid, and let it sit for a while before eating.
6. Pull a large plate of wide belt noodles (pidaimian) and put them into the basin with the spicy numbing chicken. The noodles soak up the sauce and taste amazing.
I will also share how to make the belt noodles:
Put a bowl of flour into a mixing bowl, sprinkle in half a small spoonful of salt, and add a little water. Use your fingers to stir the flour and water until it forms small, crumbly bits.
Gather the crumbly bits into a ball, adding a little water at a time to the remaining dry flour until all the bits are incorporated into one dough ball.
Knead the dough until the surface is smooth, then cover it with the mixing bowl and let it rest for 10 minutes. Repeat the resting process 2 to 3 times, then roll the dough into a large round sheet about 1 centimeter thick. Brush both sides with raw oil and cover it with the bowl again; the dough is now ready.
If you are not eating it right away, cover the dough with plastic wrap.
Summary: Urumqi home-style peppercorn chicken is a Xinjiang halal dish built around chicken, peppercorn aroma, and everyday family cooking. This short food note keeps the original recipe-style details and photos while presenting them in clear English.
My parents-in-law came to Beijing this weekend to visit Suleiman and made us spicy numbing chicken (jiaomaji). I want to share how Hui Muslims in Urumqi make this home-style dish, which is different from what you buy in restaurants:
1. Buy a small free-range chicken weighing about 1.5 kilograms. Wash it, chop it in half, remove the tail and the tips of the claws, and clean the neck, gizzard, and liver.
2. Put the chicken in a pressure cooker, add enough water to cover it, then add a few red chili peppers, a large handful of Sichuan peppercorns, some salt, a few bay leaves, a little cinnamon, and a few ginger slices. Stew for 15 minutes.
3. Take the chicken out, put it in a basin to cool, shred it by hand, and spread a chopped green onion over the top.
4. Heat oil in a pan. Once hot, turn off the heat and add seven chopped dried chili peppers (lapizi), four spoonfuls of Sichuan peppercorns, four spoonfuls of salt, and half a spoonful of white pepper. Stir well.
5. Pour three tablespoons of chicken broth into the chili oil, then pour the mixture over the chicken in the basin. Mix well, cover with a lid, and let it sit for a while before eating.
6. Pull a large plate of wide belt noodles (pidaimian) and put them into the basin with the spicy numbing chicken. The noodles soak up the sauce and taste amazing.
I will also share how to make the belt noodles:
Put a bowl of flour into a mixing bowl, sprinkle in half a small spoonful of salt, and add a little water. Use your fingers to stir the flour and water until it forms small, crumbly bits.
Gather the crumbly bits into a ball, adding a little water at a time to the remaining dry flour until all the bits are incorporated into one dough ball.
Knead the dough until the surface is smooth, then cover it with the mixing bowl and let it rest for 10 minutes. Repeat the resting process 2 to 3 times, then roll the dough into a large round sheet about 1 centimeter thick. Brush both sides with raw oil and cover it with the bowl again; the dough is now ready.
If you are not eating it right away, cover the dough with plastic wrap.
