Reposted from the web

Summary: Tianjin has a wide halal food scene that goes far beyond the usual local dishes, including pasta, yakitori-style skewers, Yemeni flatbread, Swiss cheese fondue, and rice balls. This account keeps the restaurant names, dish details, photos, and food observations from the original article.

Our family went to Tianjin for a stroll over the weekend and ate pasta, yakitori (shao niao), Yemeni food, Swiss cheese fondue, and rice balls (fan tuan).

Previous Tianjin food shares:

Autumn eating tour in Tianjin: Syrian food, giant river prawns (luo shi xia), yellow broth ramen (huang tang lamian), a Turkish restaurant, and Xinjiang fresh milk ice cream.

Taking the kids out to eat in Tianjin: Yemeni food, Algerian desserts, steamed rice rolls (changfen), Japanese food, and water caltrop soup (lingjiao tang).

Eating Arabic food in Tianjin: Syrian, Yemeni, Tunisian, and Algerian.

Between the mountains and the sea—from Huairou farmhouse restaurants (nongjiale) to coastal Western restaurants.

Iftar meal at a Tianjin mosque during Ramadan:

The first weekend of Ramadan 2025: From Beijing to Tianjin.

The second weekend of Ramadan 2025: Beijing Nanxiapo, Tianjin Xining Road, and Fuxingzhuang.

The third weekend of Ramadan 2025: Tianjin Liulin and Xibeijiao.

The fourth weekend of Ramadan 2025: Beijing Madian, the Sudanese Embassy, and Tianjin Tianmu.

On Saturday noon, we had a Western meal at Yulan Restaurant near the old Tianjin Tractor Factory (Tiantuo). The exterior is quite plain. The owner is a Tianjin elder who loves food. The shop is smoke-free and alcohol-free, so we felt comfortable eating there. The air conditioner on the second floor might be a bit weak, so it felt a little stuffy eating there in the summer. The staff said they are moving soon. We will go visit the new shop once it opens.

We ordered grilled beef quinoa salad, borscht (luosong tang), cream of mushroom soup, Provence roast chicken, Mexican beef pizza, low-temperature cheese waterfall beef brisket burger, wagyu beef sauce pasta, and black truffle cream chicken mushroom pasta. I think the best dishes were the roast chicken and the burger. The roast chicken was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and it tasted great with the sweet and spicy sauce. The meat in the burger was also very good and appetizing. The Mexican pizza was quite spicy. I am not sure if the owner improved the beef sauce on top, but I felt it was quite unique. The grilled beef salad did not use Thousand Island dressing, which is a plus. The kids loved it. The pasta was standard, and the borscht was a bit too salty.































On Saturday afternoon, we went to Uncle Yakitori (Shaoniao Dashu) in the center of Meijiang, Tianjin, for Japanese-style yakitori. This must be the only halal Japanese yakitori shop in Tianjin.

Japanese yakitori originated from grilled quail and pheasant during the Edo period (Jianghu shidai) and later developed into the current style of grilled chicken skewers brushed with Japanese sauce. We ordered chicken gizzards, chicken liver, chicken hearts, mushroom shrimp paste, chicken tail (tijideng), zucchini with cod roe (mingtaizi), and wagyu beef ribs. Their chicken liver is very tender and kids love it. The chicken gizzards and chicken hearts are also good. They also serve old-fashioned shaved ice (baobing). The ice is topped with red beans, sour hawthorn cake (suanmogao), sour apricots, and hawthorn. It is a great appetite-booster in the summer. The noodles they serve are instant noodles in chicken soup. The chicken soup is quite fresh.

There are not many people in the Meijiang area, and this restaurant is especially quiet. Also, Japanese-style yakitori is generally expensive with small portions in China, and since they only serve it with instant noodles, I am not sure how much longer they can stay open. Any dost (dost) who wants to try Japanese-style yakitori should go and give them a try soon. Besides, the Meijiang area has fewer people and nice scenery, making it a good place to take kids for a walk.

























On Sunday morning, I went to Aladdin and Jasmine, a Yemeni restaurant in Wuyue Plaza in Xianshuigu, Tianjin. They open at 10 o'clock, which is perfect for sleeping in on the weekend and heading straight there for brunch. The extension of Metro Line 6 now goes directly to Xianshuigu. However, Wuyue Plaza is so huge with so many ground-floor shops that it took us a while to find the restaurant.

We had been to another Yemeni restaurant in Tianjin before, but they did not have Yemeni flatbread (tannur bread). I finally got to eat it this time at Aladdin. We ordered the classic Yemeni breakfast of Yemeni flatbread with Saltah Yemeni stew, and we also ordered lamb mandi, salad, and a five-flavor sauce platter.

Saltah is a classic Yemeni stew that originally came from the charity kitchens (imaret) of the Ottoman Empire era. Back then, wealthy people or mosques would put leftovers into clay pots to stew. Gradually, this clay pot dish containing both meat and vegetables became known as Saltah. Saltah is mainly popular in northern Yemen. The main ingredient is meat broth (maraq), which is stewed until very soft and tender. The side ingredients are mainly potatoes and fenugreek. Fenugreek is what people in Northwest China often call fragrant beans (xiangdouzi) or bitter beans (kudouzi). People in the Northwest dry the leaves of the fenugreek and grind them into powder to steam buns, while Yemenis grind the seeds of the fenugreek to stew with meat. Fenugreek seeds expand when they meet water and easily create foam when stirred in a bowl.

Their Yemeni flatbread is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Traditionally, Yemeni flatbread is baked in an Arabic clay oven (tannur) and is full of wheat aroma.

Their lamb mandi is also good. The rice has raisins, cashews, and other things in it, which the kids really like. The lamb is very tender and falls off the bone at a touch. It tastes delicious.

Their yogurt is very authentic, with a strong sour taste and no added sugar.

A big problem with their place is that the salad actually had Thousand Island dressing and ketchup added to it. Authentic Middle Eastern restaurants would not put these two sauces in a salad. Also, the Yemeni flatbread did not come with meat broth and spicy sauce (sahawiq). Adding these two makes it a standard Yemeni brunch.























On Sunday afternoon, I went to Aimeike, a halal Western restaurant in Water City in the Northwest Corner of Tianjin. I ate at their place ten years ago, so it counts as a long-standing Western restaurant in the Northwest Corner. I came to eat at their place this time and discovered they actually started serving Swiss cheese fondue! This must be the only halal Swiss cheese fondue in the country, so I decided to try it right away!

Swiss cheese fondue (cheesefondue) is the national dish of Switzerland. It started with townspeople in the French-speaking lowlands of western Switzerland. The base uses Swiss Gruyère cheese (Gruyères) and Emmental cheese (Emmental) with cornstarch added. It is served with toasted bread cubes, grilled meat, and side dishes. The meat is pre-cooked. When you eat, wait for the cheese to bubble, then use a long fork to dip the meat in and coat it completely with cheese. The side dishes at Aimeike include grilled steak, chicken, shrimp, and sausage. It also comes with waffle fries, vegetables, and fruit. It is plenty for two people. Their grilled steak has a great texture.

We also ordered their black truffle shrimp egg yolk cheese pasta, which the kids loved. Their pasta texture is likely the best among the halal Western restaurants in Tianjin, and the black truffle flavor is the strongest too.



















There is a lot of halal food in the food court on the basement floor of Shuiyou City in the Northwest Corner of Tianjin, including rice balls and hearth-style spicy hot pot (weilu malatang). This Jinghong Rice Ball shop uses Kansai-style straw-wrapped rice balls made with red glutinous rice. The grilled eel rice ball I bought was packed with crispy bits, chicken floss, lettuce, dried radish, eel, mayonnaise, bonito flakes, and seaweed. It was very filling and perfect to take to work for lunch. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: This Beijing breakfast guide introduces four distinctive places connected with Pakistani, Turkish, Inner Mongolian, and Henan food. The article keeps the original shop details, dishes, photos, and personal notes while presenting them as a practical English food account.

Pakistani breakfast: flatbread (naan) and curry.

The Pakistani restaurant Samosa in Xibahe just started serving breakfast! You can order a la carte or choose a set meal from 7:30 to 11:00 in the morning. The three-person set includes three staples: butter naan, layered flatbread (paratha), and thin crispy bread (puri). It also comes with three dishes: chickpea masala curry, potato bhaji curry, and a Pakistani-style spicy scrambled egg (khagina). For dessert, there is homemade yogurt and semolina pudding (halawa), plus a unique mango pickle. For hot drinks, you can choose milk tea, milk, or coffee. This three-person set has a huge variety, making it perfect for a family to eat and chat on a weekend morning. Their naan is softer than the kind in Xinjiang, which makes it perfect for dipping in curry. The paratha is similar to northern Chinese griddle cakes, but it is made with butter and is very fragrant. The puri is very popular with kids, and it tastes great paired with the halawa dessert. Their yogurt is homemade, unsweetened, and has a very rich milky flavor. The halawa is not too sweet, so it feels light to eat.

You can also choose a simple meal of a sandwich and a hot drink. Their sandwiches are delicious, with chicken breast or tuna options, plus vegetables and eggs. They are very healthy and great for when you are in a rush for work.

Since subway lines 12 and 17 opened, it is very convenient to get to Samosa. After eating, you can take the subway directly to Sanlitun for shopping and enjoy a wonderful weekend.



















Turkish breakfast: bread and...

cheese.

Mado is a famous Turkish snack chain from the city of Kahramanmarash in southeastern Turkey. Its biggest feature is that it uses goat milk from its hometown to make all its signature dairy products and ice cream. Their breakfast is also very rich.

I have eaten Mado breakfast at their Yiwu and Guangzhou locations before, and in 2024, it became available at the Sultan Turkish Restaurant in Beijing. Mado has many breakfast options. We ordered the two-person set, which is served starting at 10:30 and is available all day. The two-person set includes Turkish-style fried eggs with sausage, Marash cheese, feta cheese, a yellow cheese platter, honey with Turkish cream, green olives, black olives, tomato chili paste, tahini syrup, cherry jam, dried apricots, walnuts, feta cheese spring rolls, a kiwi-orange-banana platter, a cucumber-tomato platter, plus bread, flatbread (naan), and Turkish black tea. It is a very rich variety. Their naan is very fluffy, and it tastes great when you tear it open and spread different jams on it.























Inner Mongolian breakfast: steamed dumplings (shaomai) and pot tea (guocha).

Lianying Shaomai is a time-honored brand from Jining, Inner Mongolia, and they also have a branch on Huguosi Street in Beijing. You can have an Inner Mongolian breakfast there in the morning. The pot tea contains milk skin, milk tofu, beef jerky, and roasted millet. It has a very rich milky flavor, and our whole family loves it. We ordered the mutton filling and the mutton with wild onion (shacong) filling for the shaomai. Both are made with chunks of meat and have very thin skins. The wild onion flavor is between green onion and chives; it is very pungent and suits the taste of people from Xinjiang. You can get free refills on their cold dishes and corn grit porridge (bangzazhou). They also serve salty baked flatbread (beizi) with Inner Mongolian lamb offal. We ordered the flatbread this time, and it was quite good.















Henan breakfast: bean flour soup (doumo) and vegetable snake-shaped rolls (caimang).

The Yuwei Xiaoyao Town spicy soup (hulatang) shop on Dongsi North Street opened in 2024. When we don't want to cook breakfast at home on weekends, we go there to eat. We often order the fennel and egg or chive and egg vegetable snake-shaped rolls (caimang), spicy soup (hulatang), bean flour soup (doumo), and millet and pumpkin porridge. The skin of the vegetable snake-shaped roll (caimang) is very thin, and I think it tastes better than steamed buns (baozi).

They serve braised noodles (huimian) in the morning, made in the Zhengzhou style with kelp, shredded tofu, vermicelli, quail eggs, and sliced meat. The white broth is light, so you can add chili and pickled garlic yourself. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: This 2024 travel summary covers the first half of the year, including trips through Singapore, Malaysia, China, and other destinations with halal food and Muslim travel notes. It keeps the original route, dates, places, photographs, and food details as a clear English travel record.

January in Singapore.

I traveled to Singapore in January and tasted various halal Chinese dishes. I found prawn noodles (xia mian), Hakka stuffed tofu (niang doufu), Hong Kong-style dim sum, Hainanese chicken rice, and stir-fry tea house dishes run by Hui Muslims. See "Tasting Halal Chinese Food in Singapore."

I discovered a halal-certified Peranakan restaurant in Singapore called Old Nyonya Kitchen (Lao Niangre Xiaochu) on Joo Chiat Road. Also, in Bedok North Street in eastern Singapore, there is a 60-year-old shop called Lu Lin Nyonya Kueh. They have a shop in front and a factory in the back, selling all kinds of halal Nyonya cakes (kueh). See "Eating Nyonya Food in Singapore."

Singapore has a very strong Indian culture. Tamil people from the southeastern coast of India built the Al-Abrar Mosque and the Jamae Mosque in Chinatown, as well as the Nagore Dargah, a Sufi shrine (gongbei). Little India is the liveliest place in Singapore. The shophouses on both sides are filled with Indian shops. At the southern end, there is the Abdul Gafoor Mosque built by Tamils, and at the northern end, there is the Angullia Mosque built by Gujaratis. The Tekka Centre in Little India has a row of Indian food stalls, and there is also the Indian Heritage Centre that introduces Indian culture. Kampong Glam has many century-old Indian shops. Some specialize in roti prata (fei bing), and some were even favored by British governors. See "Experiencing Indian Muslim Culture in Singapore."

The Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore originally focused on collecting crafts from Malays and other indigenous peoples of Southeast Asia. After the 1990s, it expanded its scope to collect items from West and South Asia, gradually becoming a museum that showcases the intersection of different Asian cultures and civilizations. See "Visiting the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore."

In Fort Canning Park, Singapore, there is the tomb of Sultan Iskandar Shah of Singapore, who is said to be the founder of the Malacca Sultanate. Archaeologists discovered thousands of 14th-century artifacts near the Sultan's tomb, many of which came from China and Java. At the foot of Mount Faber in southern Singapore, there is the tomb of Temenggong Abdul Rahman, one of the founders of modern Singapore, and his family. Kampong Glam in Singapore was originally the land of Sultan Hussein of Johor. The Sultan's family built the Sultan Mosque, the palace, and the Prime Minister's office here, and there is also a cemetery for the Sultan's family in the north. On the east side of Kampong Glam, there is the Hajjah Fatimah Mosque built by a Malay noblewoman. East of the Sultan's palace is the former site of a publishing house founded by members of the Sultan's family. Kampong Glam has several long-standing Padang rice (padang fan) restaurants that are well worth eating at. See "The Malays and the Early History of Singapore."

After Singapore was established as a free trade port in 1819, the Aljunied family from Yemen, who were doing business in Palembang, Sumatra, immediately came to Singapore and then established a spice and batik clothing trade network there. After that, other Arab merchants also came to Singapore to open shops, gradually forming Arab Street. We visited a batik and Nyonya clothing store opened by the Aljunied family in 1940, and bought traditional batik clothing at another batik shop opened by people of Yemeni descent. Another family from Yemen, the Alsagoff family, once dominated the spice trade in Singapore. They founded the oldest existing Islamic school (madrasa) in Singapore and built a shrine (gongbei) for a Yemeni Sufi sage in Singapore. See "Arab Merchants in Singapore."

Geylang Serai is located in the eastern part of Singapore. In the early 20th century, it became an important Malay community in Singapore. The Geylang Serai Market is the largest Malay market in Singapore, where you can taste various Malay delicacies. The nearby Haig Road Market and Food Centre also have many Malay delicacies. On the second floor of City Plaza near the Geylang River, you can find Singapore's last shop making handmade traditional caps (songkok). The Malay Heritage Centre is located next to the Geylang Serai Market. See "Visiting the Malay Market in Geylang Serai, Singapore."

January: Johor Bahru, Seremban, Klang, Ipoh, and Kuala Kangsar, Malaysia.

We went to Malaysia to eat various halal Chinese meals. In Johor Bahru, we ate at the Hainanese coffee shop Hua Mui and visited the Johor Bahru Chinese Heritage Museum. In Seremban, we ate at the halal Chinese restaurants Muhammad Kew and Mohd Chan. In Klang, we ate at the halal Chinese restaurants Yiqi Chichi and Rahmat Tan. In Ipoh, we ate at the famous halal Chinese restaurant Lau Kee, the halal Chinese stir-fry shop Gerai Ipoh Ipoh Aje, and stayed at the heritage shophouse hotel Sarang Paloh. In Kuala Kangsar, we ate at the old-school Hainanese coffee shop Yut Loy. See "Tasting Halal Chinese Food in Malaysia."

After the 14th century, the Minangkabau people living on Sumatra Island crossed the Strait of Malacca to settle in Negeri Sembilan on the Malay Peninsula. Today, you can experience Minangkabau culture at the Negeri Sembilan State Museum. On the hill to the east of Seremban Lake Garden is the Tuanku Ja'afar Royal Gallery. In the city center, there is the century-old Jamek Mosque and the famous long-standing shop Haji Shariff's Cendol. See "Negeri Sembilan: The Settlement of the Minangkabau People in Malaysia."

Kuala Kangsar is located in Perak, Malaysia. It has been the royal city of the Sultan of Perak since the 18th century, where you can feel the authentic Malay village (kampung) atmosphere. On Friday, we visited the night market at the Kuala Kangsar Market and tasted various Malay snacks. The core area of the Perak Sultan's royal city is on Bukit Chandan hill. It features the Istana Hulu built in 1898 (currently closed), the Ubudiah Mosque built in 1913, the Perak Royal Mausoleum built in 1915, the Perak Prince's wooden house built in 1912, the bamboo-walled Istana Kenangan built in 1926, and the Istana Iskandariah built in 1933 (not open to the public). See "The Royal City of the Perak Sultan and the Lively Malay Night Market."

Ipoh is located in Perak, Malaysia, and is known as the "City of Tin." In the late 19th century, many South Indian Tamils came to Ipoh to make a living, and the Ipoh Indian Mosque was built in 1908. Some North Indian Pathans (Pashtun descent) and Punjabis also came to Ipoh to work as police officers, and they built the Pakistan Mosque in Ipoh's Little India in 1930. In Ipoh's old town, we ate at a Tamil mamak stall that has been serving rice with curry (nasi kandar) for over 50 years, and we also had durian shaved ice (cendol) in the old town. The center for Malay people in Ipoh is the Panglima Kinta Mosque, built in 1898 by the Kinta River. See "Indian and Malay Mosques in Ipoh, Malaysia."

The Muhammadiah Mosque in Tasek, in the northern suburbs of Ipoh, was rebuilt under the leadership of the Ipoh branch of the Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association. It is the first mosque in Malaysia with a purely Chinese architectural style, and you can see Chinese characters everywhere inside. I performed the Friday prayer (namaz) at the mosque and met Dato' Sheikh Abdul Rahman, the chairman of the Ipoh branch of the Chinese Muslim Association. See "Performing Friday Prayer at a Chinese Mosque in Malaysia."

In 1889, Sultan Abu Bakar of Johor officially moved the royal capital to Johor Bahru. The Sultan Abu Bakar Mosque is a mosque in Malaysia with a very distinct Victorian style. The Mahmoodiah Royal Mausoleum is the royal burial ground for the Sultans of Johor, and it also uses Victorian architectural style. The Pasir Pelangi Royal Mosque is located next to the Pasir Pelangi Palace of the Sultan of Johor, and the entire structure is in a neoclassical style. The Johor Art Gallery has many works by Johor artists, and there is a young man on-site to guide you through the experience of traditional tie-dyeing. There are traditional Johor Malay buildings in the courtyard where you can change into traditional clothes for photos. On Jalan Dhoby in the old town of Johor Bahru, there is a traditional Indian bakery that has been open for over 80 years, and there is also an Indian mosque nearby. See "The Royal City of the Temenggong Dynasty of the Johor Sultanate—Johor Bahru."

On Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, a street with century-old arcade buildings in the old town of Johor Bahru, you will find Nyonya Dynasty, the first Nyonya restaurant in Johor state to receive halal certification. There are three halal Nyonya restaurants in the NU Sentral mall opposite KL Sentral in Kuala Lumpur, and this time we ate at the largest of the three, Peranakan Place. See "Eating Nyonya Cuisine in Johor Bahru and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia."

Selangor is located on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. After the 17th century, the Bugis people from Sulawesi Island entered Selangor as mercenaries and established the Sultanate of Selangor in the 18th century. In 1874, the Selangor royal city was destroyed in a civil war, and Sultan Abdul Samad moved the royal city to the foot of Jugra Hill inside the mouth of the Selangor River. Today, two historical buildings, the Alaeddin Palace and the Alaeddin Mosque, are still preserved here. The Sultan also built the Alam Shah Palace in Klang. The Sultan Sulaiman Royal Mosque, which is right next to the palace, uses Art Deco style. The Sultan Abdul Aziz Royal Gallery is located in the center of the old town of Klang. The arcade area of Klang's old town has a lively Little India neighborhood, and the Indian mosque is a landmark building. See "The Royal City of the Sultan of Selangor—Jugra, Klang."

February, Urumqi.

Hotan Street is a famous food street in Urumqi. We ate the Kashgar Yibazhua (a type of meat bun) that had the longest line on Hotan Second Street, drank pigeon soup, bought traditional Uyghur pastries, and ate roasted goose eggs, handmade yogurt, and Yangle spicy chicken. There are also many Kazakh restaurants on Hotan Street. We ate horse sausage narin (a traditional meat and noodle dish) and milk tea at the Sai Gulu Ke restaurant, and had a Kazakh breakfast at Baoersake. I also bought an old-fashioned poplar wood sapayi (a traditional percussion instrument) at the Duoluozhe Ethnic Musical Instrument Store in Erdaoqiao, and bought usma (a plant-based eyebrow pencil) on the street. We walked around the Tianshan Vanke mall, which has many Uyghur restaurants and even a restaurant specifically for children's supplementary food. See "Hotan Street, Erdaoqiao, and Tianshan Vanke in Urumqi."

Although I was busy with night prayers during this return to Urumqi, I still found time to visit two small Hui Muslim eateries. The first one is Zainab's childhood treasure restaurant—Heping Bridge Dumpling Restaurant. Their place is a rare, old-school Hui Muslim sour soup dumpling shop in Urumqi. The second place is Xinshenghua Meatball Soup (wanzi tang) for Hui Muslims in Changji. The environment is very nice, the kitchen is open for everyone to see, and the food tastes great. See "Sharing Two Hui Muslim Eateries I Visited in Urumqi This Time."

I went to the Dawan Gongbei in Urumqi to attend the funeral (maitai) for an elder from the Luyuan Street community. After the funeral, I visited the two sages at the Dawan Gongbei. The first is the elder from Weijiapu, the first imam (ahong) to start formal religious education in Urumqi. The second is Imam Ma Zongfu, the leader of the Beiliang Mosque and Beifang Mosque in Urumqi, known to everyone as Elder Datong. See "Visiting the Dawan Gongbei in Urumqi."

March, Wuhan

I returned to Wuhan ten years after graduation. At night, I ate at Diaohuzi Hui Muslim Barbecue in Erqi, Jiang'an. In the morning, I prayed (namaz) at the Jiang'an Mosque. At Chengliji, I caught some freshly fried beef meatballs (niurou yuanzi). At the Yixiangzhai food shop nearby, I bought peanut brittle (huasheng su) and ginger candy (jiangzhi zatang). On the side road of Erqi, I ate three-ingredient noodles and beef mixed noodles at the Halal Shuangbao Red Oil Beef series shop. At noon, I ate Ma's hot dry noodles (reganmian) on Liangdao Street in Wuchang and taro cheese bricks at the Halal Red Brick Wall shop. In the evening, I went to the Yizhiwei Restaurant on Bayi Road to eat Halal Hubei cuisine. See "Returning to Wuhan Ten Years After Graduation (Part 1): Jiang'an Mosque, Central China Normal University, and Wuchang Food."

Early in the morning, I went to the Ma Si Baba Gongbei on Huquan Street to pay my respects. In the afternoon, I drank sand-boiled coffee and ate baklava at a Turkish cafe in Tongxingli, Hankou. In the afternoon, I went to the Fatumei Restaurant on Huangxing Road to eat beef spring rolls, stir-fried beef tripe, and shredded dry-fried beef. See "Returning to Wuhan Ten Years After Graduation (Part 2): Ma Si Baba Gongbei, Turkish Coffee, and Fatumei Restaurant."

March, Hexiwu, Wuqing, Tianjin

I went back to my hometown with my family in Hexiwu Town, Wuqing District, Tianjin. Because it was a key hub for water transport, Hexiwu Town had many Hui Muslim merchants during the Ming and Qing dynasties. There was a Hui Muslim camp southwest of the town, and the Hexiwu Mosque was first built in the early years of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty. After leaving the mosque, we bought the local specialty golden-rimmed braised meat (jinbian koumen) at the Xinpengzhai Restaurant. Then we went to the "First Post Station Snack Street" inside the Hexiwu Farmers' Market. The most famous item there is the yellow rice fried cake (huangmi zhagao) from the century-old Wangji Lirenzhai. Also, the crispy fried dough pockets (gezhe he) of Hexiwu are very famous. See "My Hometown—Hexiwu Town, Wuqing, Tianjin."

May, Yiwu and Lishui, Zhejiang

After four years, we visited Yiwu again. After travel restrictions were lifted, Yiwu became busy again. People from countries in the Middle East and Africa all came to Yiwu to buy goods, and many new Middle Eastern restaurants opened, especially in the Binwang business district. This time, we chose a few of the newly opened restaurants to try. See "Many New Middle Eastern Restaurants Have Opened in Yiwu."

On the afternoon of May 2, I took the high-speed train from Yiwu to Lishui to visit Lishui Mosque. Lishui Mosque has two sections, featuring two gate towers, a front hall, connecting corridors, and a main hall, all in a distinct local Lishui style. The gate towers are the most unique part and are listed as a Lishui City cultural heritage site. See "Visiting Lishui Mosque in Zhejiang."

In May, I visited Fuzhou, Quanzhou, and Xiamen in Fujian.

I visited Fuzhou Mosque at Nanmendou and went to pay my respects at the tomb of the Sheikh (shaihai) inside the Hui Muslim cemetery on Meifeng Road. The Fuzhou Museum displays three Song and Yuan dynasty tombstone carvings from Quanzhou. I had lunch at the famous Turkish restaurant Aladdin, then returned to Fuzhou Mosque for Jumu'ah prayer. See "Jumu'ah in Fuzhou: Fuzhou Mosque, Sheikh Tomb, Song and Yuan Stone Carvings, and a Turkish Restaurant."

I went to Qingjing Mosque in Quanzhou for Zuhr prayer. Imam Ma of Qingjing Mosque is from Hualong, Qinghai. During the day, he leads prayers in the main hall donated by Oman, and after the tourist area closes, he leads prayers in the smaller Mingshan Hall. The next morning, I continued exploring Qingjing Mosque. See "The Thousand-Year-Old Qingjing Mosque in Quanzhou."

Lingshan Holy Tomb is in the east of Quanzhou city, also known as the Tomb of the Three and Four Sages. The holy tomb currently has two granite graves divided into three layers, with lotus petal carvings on the bottom layer. In 1958, when the Fuzhou-Xiamen highway outside the East Gate of Quanzhou was widened, several Song and Yuan dynasty Muslim pedestal-style tomb stones by the road were moved next to the Lingshan Holy Tomb. Next to the Lingshan Holy Tomb is the cemetery for local Quanzhou Hui Muslims. The Ge, Ma, and Huang families are descendants of the generations of imams who served at Qingjing Mosque. A large section of the Lingshan Sacred Tomb scenic area is dedicated to the Ding family cemetery from Chendai. See "Lingshan Holy Tomb in Quanzhou."

At noon, I took a taxi south of Quanzhou to Chendai Mosque for Asr prayer and visited the Chendai Hui Muslim History Museum located inside the Ding Family Ancestral Hall. See "Chendai Mosque and the Chendai Hui Muslim History Museum in Quanzhou, Fujian."

In Quanzhou, besides the famous Baiqi Guo family of Hui Muslims, there is also a branch of the Jundong Guo family of Hui Muslims. Today, the Xingzhai Guo Family Ancestral Hall is a large Southern Fujian-style ancestral hall with three rows of buildings, two courtyards, and two side houses. It is a Quanzhou cultural heritage site and serves as the cultural activity center for the Xingzhai Hui Muslim Seniors Association. Inside the Guo Family Ancestral Hall in Xingzhai, there are several stone tablets, one of which is inscribed with 'Site of the Islamic Mosque'. See 'Echoes of the Faith: The Guo Family Mosque of the Hui Muslims in Xingzhai, Quanzhou'.

The Quanzhou Maritime Museum was built in 1959. In 2003, the Quanzhou Islamic Culture Exhibition Hall was completed, and in 2008, the 'Arabs and Persians in Quanzhou' exhibition officially opened, displaying over 200 stone carvings from the Song and Yuan dynasties related to the faith. See 'Song and Yuan Dynasty Islamic Stone Carvings in the Quanzhou Maritime Museum Collection'.

At noon, I visited the Xiamen Mosque and was very grateful to have braised noodles (huimian) made by Imam Liu. Inside the Xiamen Mosque, there are two stone tablets dating back to 1902 (the 28th year of the Guangxu reign) and 1924 (the 13th year of the Republic of China). I had dinner at the main branch of Ma'erlong in the evening. See '[2024 May Day Trip] Xiamen Mosque and Ma'erlong Xinjiang Cuisine'.

The Anthropology Museum of Xiamen University is the first university museum in the People's Republic of China, and it houses a large number of Song and Yuan dynasty Islamic stone carvings from Quanzhou. See 'Song and Yuan Dynasty Islamic Stone Carvings in the Xiamen University Anthropology Museum Collection'.

May: Chengdu, Dujiangyan, and Leshan, Sichuan.

I went to Chengdu for a business trip in May and stayed behind the Huangcheng Mosque. This time, I felt the area in front of the Huangcheng Mosque was much livelier than before, with many new restaurants opened. See 'The Huangcheng Mosque Neighborhood in Chengdu is Great for Exploring'.

Tuqiao is located in the northwest of Chengdu. Since the Qing Dynasty, it has been a necessary stop for merchants traveling to Chengdu from Aba and Songpan via the Songmao Ancient Road. Many Hui Muslims settled here, and during the reigns of Yongzheng and Qianlong, two mosques were built, known as the Tuqiao Lower Mosque and Upper Mosque. On the evening of May 16, I first bought half a smoked duck at Shunji Marinated Meats (Shunji Yanlu) in front of the Tuqiao Upper Mosque. Then, I bought a serving of braised beef offal (shao niuza) with rice at the nearby Dama Ge Beef Restaurant. After coming down from Hufutan, I had some spicy wontons (hongyou chaoshou) at the Old Street Restaurant in front of the Tuqiao Upper Mosque. Tuqiao is very lively in the morning, and a line formed in front of Shunji Marinated Meats. The Sichuan-style marinated meats here are really worth buying. After finishing breakfast, I visited the Tuqiao Hui Muslim Cemetery, which has a history of over 200 years. See 'Tasting Sichuan Delicacies in Tuqiao, Chengdu'.

On May 15, we set off from Chengdu to Dujiangyan and visited the Dujiangyan Mosque at noon. There are many halal restaurants around the Dujiangyan Mosque, where you can eat authentic traditional Hui Muslim dishes from western Sichuan. Huixiangyuan, located right next to the Dujiangyan Mosque, is a long-established restaurant that displays a traditional soup pot (tangping) sign. I had some chilled tofu pudding (bing douhua) at a small snack shop in Dujiangyan; it was soft and very refreshing. See "Ancient Mosques and Food in Dujiangyan, Sichuan."

We left Chengdu early on May 16 and arrived in Leshan after a two-hour drive, heading to the local restaurant Haishi Qiaojiao Beef for lunch. The restaurant is right across from the Leshan Giant Buddha, next to the old Leshan Port on the Min River. Haishi Qiaojiao Beef was founded by Imam Hai Weixiong. Imam Hai is from Qingliu Town in the Rongchang District of Chongqing. His ancestors moved to Sichuan from Hubei and Hunan during the Kangxi reign. In October 1989, he became the first imam of the Leshan Mosque after the policy was restored, serving until 1998 when he retired to go into business. Besides Haishi Qiaojiao Beef in Leshan, there is also Sulaimani Qiaojiao Beef on the Maluqiao Food Street at the foot of Mount Emei. The owners are Hui Muslims from Rong County, Zigong City. See "Eating Qiaojiao Beef in Leshan and Mount Emei, Sichuan."

June, Liaocheng and Linqing, Shandong

Seven years later, I visited the Dongguan Hui Muslim community in Liaocheng again. There are two mosques in Liaocheng Dongguan: the west one is commonly known as the Great Mosque (Da Libaisi), and the east one is called the Small Mosque (Xiao Libaisi). The "Great and Small Mosque Street District" in Liaocheng Dongguan is among the first batch of historical and cultural districts in Shandong Province and serves as an important historical witness to the Hui Muslim communities along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal during the Ming and Qing dynasties. See "Revisiting the Great and Small Mosque Streets in Liaocheng Dongguan."

We took a train from Liaocheng to Linqing and went to Baoliang First Shop to eat a meat-filled pancake roll (bing juan rou). In the afternoon, we prayed the Dhuhr (lidigele) prayer at the North Mosque in Linqing, then went to the East Mosque across the street to pray the Asr (shamu) and Maghrib (hufutan) prayers. After the Asr prayer, we ate big bowls of food at Erliang Diguo Millet Porridge at the intersection of Xianfeng Road and Dazhong Road. After the Maghrib prayer, I rode my bike to the Linqing Women's Mosque to find Zainab. In the morning, we had breakfast at Kong Family Steamed Bowl (kouwan) at the Xianfeng Road intersection. After eating, we went to Xianfeng Road to have tofu brain (doufunao) and old tofu (lao doufu). At noon, we ate Wang Family Ten-Fragrance Noodles (shixiang mian) on Xinhua Road, then went to Hongguanying Mosque in Linxi County, Xingtai, Hebei, to pray the Dhuhr (pieshen) prayer. On the way back, we bought deep-stir-fried meat tenderloin (ganzha liji), meat-filled baked buns (rou huoshao), and smoked pigeon (xunge). See "The Ancient Canal City of Linqing, Shandong."

June: Shenyang, Xinmin, Dalian, Fuzhou, Fengcheng, Dandong, and Xinlitun in Liaoning.

I went to Liaoning for the Dragon Boat Festival holiday. I took a high-speed train from Beijing Chaoyang Station to Shenyang in the evening. The next morning, I went to the Lijiang Morning Market in Shenyang and had lamb soup, shaomai, and pan-fried meat pies (huitou) at Heige Lamb Soup. On the third morning, I visited the Bayi Morning Market in Shenyang again. Shenyang has so many morning markets, and every one of them is full of delicious food. After the market, I took a train from Shenyang Station to Xinmin to visit the Xinmin Mosque. At the halal restaurants around the Xinmin Mosque, you can see signs for the Jin, Bai, and Yang families. See "[Dragon Boat Festival Liaoning Trip] Visiting Shenyang Morning Markets and the Ancient Xinmin Mosque."

On the morning of June 8, I took a train from Shenyang to the ancient city of Fuzhou and had "Fuzhou old-style dishes" at the Qunfangyuan Restaurant near the Fuzhou city roundabout. After lunch, we went to the Fuzhou Mosque for namaz. The imam of the Fuzhou Mosque is from Mengcun, Cangzhou, Hebei. Hui Muslim homes in Fuzhou city. The old street has blue bricks and dark tiles, with Arabic calligraphy on the walls, keeping the look of the old days. There is a legendary halal food spot in Fuzhou city, which is my friend's family shop, Yin's sticky rice cake (jiangmi lianggao). In the afternoon, I took a high-speed train from Wafangdian West Station to Dalian North Station and had dinner at the long-established Ma's Dumpling Restaurant (Ma Jia Jiaozi Guan) in front of Dalian Railway Station. After dinner, I went to the Dalian Mosque on Beijing Street for namaz. The next morning, I left from Dalian Station for Qingdui, then took a taxi to the ancient town of Qingdui to visit the Qingdui Mosque. See "[Dragon Boat Festival Liaoning Trip] Dalian City, Fuzhou Ancient City, and Qingdui Ancient Town."

At noon on June 9, I took a train from Dalian to Fengcheng. At Wenbin Snack Bar, I had the Dandong-style stir-fried corn noodles (chao chazi), and also ordered corn grit eight-treasure porridge (dazhazi babaozhou) and a 6-yuan vegetable platter. After eating, I went to the Fengcheng Mosque for namaz. The imam of the Fengcheng Mosque is also from Cangzhou. In the afternoon, I took a train from Fengcheng to Dandong and visited the Dandong Mosque. The entrance to the mosque was very busy. In the afternoon, I had dinner at the long-established Jinlongge Restaurant in Dandong. They have a wide variety of traditional stir-fried dishes and seafood. See "[Dragon Boat Festival Liaoning Trip] Fengcheng Ancient Mosque and Dandong Food."

On the morning of June 10, I took a high-speed train from Liaoning's Xinmin North Station, arrived at Heishan North Station in 15 minutes, and then took a taxi to Xinlitun Town. I performed the afternoon prayer (peshin) at Xinlitun Mosque, where the imam, Ma, is from Cangzhou. There are many halal restaurants in Xinlitun, but many were closed for the Dragon Boat Festival. We bought beef jerky and smoked dried tofu (xungan doufu) at Wang Zijing Deli, and both were delicious! In the afternoon, we took a train from Xinlitun Railway Station to Fuxin South Station. We performed the late afternoon prayer (asr) and sunset prayer (maghrib) at Fuxin Mosque, then had dinner at Daijia Restaurant Huiweizhai near the mosque. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: This Singapore article walks through the Malay market in Geylang Serai and records food, shops, neighborhood scenes, and Malay Muslim culture. It keeps the original market details, dishes, prices, and small observations in clear English.

Geylang Serai is located near the Geylang River in eastern Singapore. Geylang likely comes from the name of a tribe of indigenous sea people (Orang Laut) who lived here when the British arrived in the early 19th century. Serai refers to the lemongrass grown in nearby plantations during the late 19th century.

Malay villages were scattered along the Geylang River in the 19th century, but there were not many people there at first. After the 1920s, as rent and living costs in downtown Singapore rose, many Malays moved to the Geylang Serai area in the east. By the 1930s, Geylang Serai had become a densely populated suburb. After World War II, more Malays settled in Geylang Serai, and it became an important Malay community in Singapore.

The Malay market (pasar) in Geylang Serai dates back to the 1920s. The Japanese turned it into an amusement park during World War II, but it returned to being a busy Malay market after the war, where local Malays came to shop. Singapore started the Geylang Serai development project in 1962. The Geylang Serai market officially opened in 1964, becoming a place for Malays to buy fresh vegetables, meat, cooked food, clothing, and various groceries. The Geylang Serai market was rebuilt between 2006 and 2010. The new market has two floors and is larger and cleaner.

Since it was built, the Geylang Serai market has been the largest Malay market in Singapore and the best place to experience Malay culture.









We first ate the classic Malay street snack Putu Piring at Haig Road Putu Piring on the first floor of the Geylang Serai market. This shop has been open since 1985. We chose the durian flavor, and they really put durian fruit inside. Putu Piring was first brought to Southeast Asia by immigrants from Fujian. To make it, you put crushed peanuts, shredded coconut, and palm sugar into rice flour and press it into a special stainless steel mold.





Walking inside from the first floor, you find a place selling all kinds of traditional Malay fruits and vegetables. Then, you go up to the second floor to find where Malays buy clothes.











After going up to the second floor, we first went to the Malay cake stall Kueh Talam Asli. Kueh Talam also originated in Indonesia. Kueh means cake, and Talam is the Indonesian word for tray. Kueh Talam refers to a cake made by steaming rice flour, coconut milk, and other ingredients in a rectangular tray. Traditional Kueh Talam usually has two layers. When making it, you put the bottom layer in the tray first, steam it until it is half-cooked, and then add the top layer. The green color in the rice cakes (kueh) comes from pandan leaf juice, the brown from coconut sugar, the yellow from sweet potato, pumpkin, or corn, and the purple from purple sweet potato or taro.





Also, this stall in the market (pasar) called Warong Keluarga has a wide variety of traditional Malay cakes and snacks that I should try next time.





Otak-otak is a fish cake that started in Palembang, Sumatra. It is made by wrapping minced fish, tapioca flour, shredded coconut, and spices in a banana leaf and grilling it. Unlike the white version in Indonesia, otak-otak in Singapore and Malaysia contains chili, shrimp paste (belacan), and turmeric, which gives it an orange-red color.







Cendol is a Southeast Asian shaved ice dessert. It features pandan and glutinous rice noodles topped with coconut milk and palm sugar syrup. In traditional Javanese food, cendol usually only has green pandan noodles, unlike the versions in Singapore and Malaysia that include red beans. To show they are authentic, this cendol shop in Geylang Serai Market uses English, pinyin, Tamil, and Malay to state they do not serve red beans, which is an interesting cultural detail.







Besides Malay stalls, Geylang Serai Market also has halal Indian and Chinese stalls, showing the cultural diversity of Singapore.

We tried the classic Southeast Asian salad, rojak, at a very popular stall on the second floor of the market called Rojak & Mee Siam. Rojak is said to have started on the island of Java. It was originally a mix of fruits and vegetables with spicy palm sugar syrup, but it spread to Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore with Javanese migrants and developed into many different styles.

In Singapore, rojak is mainly split into fruit rojak (rojak buah) and Indian rojak (rojak india). The one we ate was Indian rojak. Indian rojak is mostly sold by Tamil Muslim stalls (mamak stalls) and includes items like bean curd, fish cakes, tempeh, cucumber, beef lung, fried dough sticks, and eggs. Customers point to what they want at the window, then the staff cuts and heats it in the back kitchen before adding a thick, spicy, sweet sauce made from mashed sweet potatoes. It is very popular with Malay people.









Next to Kueh Talam Asli is the only Chinese stall in the market, an old shop called Chee Kong clear soup (qing tang) that opened in the 1950s. The clear soup (qing tang) can be served with longan, sweet potato, and ginkgo nuts, and you can have it hot or cold. Drinking a bowl of clear soup (qing tang) is very refreshing after eating a lot of spicy Malay food.





Besides Geylang Serai Market, the Haig Road Market & Food Centre to the west also has plenty of Malay food. At the first stall, we had the most affordable Malay boiled noodles (mee rebus), which features yellow egg noodles topped with a thick, sweet and spicy curry sauce, plus lime, green chili, and dried anchovies.









At the second stall, we had another affordable Malay snack, coconut milk rice (nasi lemak), made with rice cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaves, served with fried fish, sambal chili paste, a fried egg, fried peanuts, and dried anchovies.







After our main meal, we chose a classic three-layer milk tea, which gets its three colors from palm sugar, milk, and black tea for a rich flavor.





City Plaza by the Geylang River is a mall for affordable Malay clothing, and hidden on the second floor is Songkok Singapura, the last shop in Singapore that makes traditional caps (songkok) by hand. The owner, Haji Abdul Wahab, had a father who started making songkok in the 1970s, back when there were several such shops in Geylang Serai. Haji Abdul Wahab started learning to make songkok from his father as a teenager, opened his own shop at the old Geylang Serai Market at age 22, and has been doing it for 42 years since. Competition between songkok shops was very intense in the 20th century, but with the rise of machine production, Haji Abdul Wahab is now the only one left who still makes them by hand.

Besides traditional black velvet songkok, Haji Abdul Wahab also makes them in gold, white, and maroon, and many famous people, including the Sultan of Johor, have ordered from his shop. It takes Haji Abdul Wahab about an hour to make each songkok, and the peak season is during Ramadan, when the shop can receive up to 1,000 orders and his whole family helps out.



















West of Geylang Serai Market is the newly built community center, Wisma Geylang Serai, which houses the Geylang Serai Malay Heritage Gallery. Although the gallery is small, it is a great place to learn about the history and culture of Geylang Serai.



Old photos of Malay people in Singapore.



The sewing machine and hat mold used by Hussain bin H. Yunos, who once made songkok in the Geylang Serai Malay Village.





Traditional wedding attire in the Jambi Kodya style from Sumatra.









Molds used for making Malay rice cakes (kuih).



Further reading:

The early history of the Malay people and Singapore

Experience Indian Muslim culture in Singapore

Taste halal Chinese food in Singapore

Eating Peranakan food (nyonya cai) in Singapore view all

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. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Ashura bean porridge is a Muslim food tradition that has traveled across Eurasia through faith, family memory, and local kitchens. This article explains the dish, its cultural setting, and its ingredients in natural English while preserving the original details.

The 10th day of the first month of the Islamic calendar is the honorable Day of Ashura. Besides fasting, Hui Muslims also have a tradition of making Ashura bean porridge to commemorate the day the Ark of Nuh (Noah's Ark) reached land. People say when the Prophet Nuh and his followers stepped off the boat, they had almost no food left. Everyone pooled together seeds of various foods to make the first meal for humanity after the Great Flood receded.

We came home from work yesterday and started making the Urumqi version of Ashura bean rice.

First, cut the Qurban lamb into small cubes and stir-fry them with chopped green onions. Make sure the Sichuan peppercorns (huajiao) and salt stand out in the flavor. Then, put a handful of glutinous rice and half a bowl of rice into half a pot of water. After it is cooked, add the nine types of beans that were boiled the day before, stir well, and then add the stir-fried lamb. The finished dish has both the fragrance of beans and the aroma of meat, and it is very meaningful.

















Besides Hui Muslims, many Sunni Muslims in other regions also make Ashura bean porridge, with the most famous being the Ashure of the Ottoman Empire. In his 17th-century work, The Book of Travels (Seyahatname), the Ottoman traveler Evliya Celebi mentioned that Ashure is a type of porridge that should be cooked on the tenth day of the month of Muharram.

Ottoman Ashure does not have a fixed recipe, as it varies by region and the habits of each family. Traditionally, People say at least seven ingredients should be used, while others believe it should contain ten ingredients to match the theme of the tenth day. The Alevis always use twelve ingredients. Commonly used ingredients include wheat, barley, rice, white kidney beans, chickpeas, grape molasses (pekmez), pomegranate molasses, beet juice, dates, raisins, currants, apricots, figs, apples, pistachios, almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pine nuts, and sesame seeds. The finished Ashure can also be decorated with fennel seeds, black cumin seeds, plums, pomegranates, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

I first ate Ashure in Istanbul, and I had it again this year in Sarajevo. Today, you can buy Ashure in dessert shops all year round in Turkey and the Balkan region. However, on the Day of Ashura, people still prefer to make Ashure themselves and share it with the poor, relatives, neighbors, and friends. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Fengyi Ancient Town in Dali is home to Fengming Mosque and a local Hui Muslim food scene shaped by Yunnan streets and everyday community life. This account covers the mosque visit and clay pot rice noodles while keeping the original sequence and images.

I rode my bike 10 kilometers east from Xiaguan in Dali to reach the ancient town of Fengyi, where I visited the century-old Fengming Mosque.

As the seat of Zhaozhou since the Yuan Dynasty, Fengyi Town has long been home to Hui Muslims, who built an old mosque on South Street. After 1872, the Hui Muslims of Fengyi died or fled, and the South Street mosque was burned down. For the next 50 years, the few remaining Hui Muslims in Fengyi could only perform their worship at the home of Mu Benren on West Street. At that time, the second floor of the Mu family home was the prayer room, while the first floor served as a scripture hall where a teacher (laoshi) named Luo Wusuo from Zhihua taught the scriptures.

During this period, the Hui Muslims of Fengyi kept raising money to rebuild their mosque. Finally, Yang Chaozhu, who had served as a military commander in Guangxi, asked the Fengyi county magistrate for help, bought land from the Wu family in Yaojia Lane, and worked with local community leaders to fund and build the Fengming Mosque in 1922. After 2001, the main prayer hall (Chaozhen Dian) was expanded from three rooms to five, giving it the appearance it has today.

















The plaque inscribed with the words "Zhong Gu Yi Xi" was donated by Ding Guotai from Shaanxi when the mosque was built in 1922.



While walking around the ancient town of Fengyi, I ate a bowl of clay pot rice noodles (shaguo mixian) served with the local staple side dish of pickled radish. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Halal Food Diary: Summer 2022 Muslim Food and Mosques is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: In the summer of 2022, I still could not leave Beijing. In early June, indoor dining was banned, so I ate barbecue outside the restaurant door. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Halal Food, Summer Diary, Muslim Food while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

In the summer of 2022, I still could not leave Beijing. In early June, indoor dining was banned, so I ate barbecue outside the restaurant door. Then, for the Dragon Boat Festival, I bought special yellow rice sticky rice dumplings (zongzi) and eight-treasure sticky rice dumplings (zongzi) in Changying. I found a new breakfast shop in Changying run by Hui Muslims from Kaifeng that serves spicy soup (hulatang) and pan-fried buns (shuijianbao), and it was delicious.

After indoor dining reopened in June, I visited many restaurants, but I was sad to find that the Japanese restaurant Chidao Yakiniku had already closed. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover a new Xinjiang restaurant I really like called Hetian Shidang.

In July, I celebrated Eid al-Adha (Qurbani) with a family meal featuring fish and meat, and I stewed some delicious lamb that was slaughtered in Urumqi and shipped to me. Also, the Pingliang restaurant I liked, Longxianghui, had closed by then.

In August, I observed Ashura and made the Urumqi Hui Muslim version of lamb and bean rice (doudoufan). In mid-August, my father-in-law came to Beijing from Urumqi. We stayed home for seven days and ate all kinds of delicious homemade Urumqi Hui Muslim dishes. In late August, we took a road trip to the outskirts of Beijing in Huairou and Miyun. We ate at a Pakistani restaurant in the valley and enjoyed local halal food in Chengguan, Mujiayu, Gubeikou, and Taishitun.

June 1: Big plate chicken (dapanji).

Zainab made big plate chicken (dapanji) and yogurt (suannaizi). It was a blessing (talaodao). Our house felt just like a branch of Luyuan Street in the Saybagh District of Urumqi!





June 3: Ali's barbecue on Shenlu Street.

We had Ali's barbecue, liver (ganzi), yogurt drink (ayran), and rice pilaf (zhuafan) on Shenlu Street. I hadn't been to Chaoyang for a month, and their barbecue is arguably the best near our home.













June 6: Changying.

Try the yellow rice sticky rice dumplings (zongzi) and eight-treasure sticky rice dumplings (zongzi) at Changying Yijinzhai, the pea flour cake (wandouhuang) at Kaiyizhai, and the cheese hot dog at Mailian Shiguang.



















Get the meat flatbread (shaobing) with fried tofu soup (doupao tang) at Lixiaolao, and the mixed vegetable salad (bancai) at Yicheng. You cannot find tofu this tender in the city center!



















June 7, Henan-style breakfast at Changying Dahuzi Chuanchuanxiang.

In the morning, Changying Dahuzi Chuanchuanxiang is run by a family from Kaifeng, Henan, selling breakfast items like spicy soup (hulatang), pan-fried buns (shuijianbao), and large fried dough sticks (youtiao). I have been eating Beijing-style breakfast for a month, so today I am switching things up!

They have three types of pan-fried buns (shuijianbao): beef and green onion, vermicelli, and chive and egg. They fry them fresh, and there is always a long line. They usually sell out as soon as they come out of the pan. I think they taste great and have plenty of meat. The fried dough sticks (youtiao) are huge. They are fried in clear oil, so they have a nice color, and one is enough to keep you full. The spicy soup (hulatang) is very rich, and it tastes great when you break off a piece of the fried dough stick (youtiao) and dip it in. Next time I have to try the mix of tofu pudding (doufunao) and spicy soup (hulatang).



















June 9, Palestinian restaurant Zayton.

After dine-in reopened, I spent the evening catching a breeze on the terrace at the Palestinian restaurant Zayton to enjoy life.

I started by eating Fatteh, a Levantine snack you can only find here in Beijing. Fatteh means "crushed" in Arabic. It is a snack from the southern Levant region, found in Damascus, Beirut, Jordan, and Palestine, but not in the northern Levant. The main ingredient of Fatteh is crushed flatbread (khubz), topped with yogurt, steamed chickpeas, olive oil, and other ingredients, then sprinkled with cumin.

I also ordered salty yogurt drink (ayran), grilled lamb, and veal steak. Among Middle Eastern restaurants in Beijing, this place offers great value for money. The view from this terrace is just amazing.



















June 10: Homemade beef jerky (niurougan) from my mother-in-law in Urumqi, made the Hui Muslim way.

My mother-in-law sent two kinds of homemade Hui Muslim beef jerky (niurougan) from Urumqi. One is a bold flavor, marinated with egg white and starch before being fried. The other is a milder flavor, boiled in water, air-dried for two hours, and then mixed with seasonings until dry. Both are finished with a sprinkle of white sesame seeds. Four kilograms of beef made less than two kilograms of jerky. The kids in Urumqi would cry with envy if they saw this.



June 10: Dastan, an Indian restaurant.

Dastan is a new Indian restaurant that opened this year in Sanlitun SOHO. It sits right next to the Palestinian restaurant Zayton and is a halal spot run by a Hindu owner.

I started with the Indian street snack Panipuri, which became famous because of the movie Dangal. The name of this snack comes from two parts: pani and puri. A puri is a round, hollow, deep-fried crispy bread filled with mashed potatoes, onions, chickpeas, and various spices. Imli pani is a sauce made from cilantro, green chili, ginger, Chaat masala spice, and tamarind chutney. To eat it, just pour the sauce into the filling.

I also ordered the Old Delhi butter chicken (Purani Delhi Wali Murgh Makhani), a dish invented in the 1950s by the famous Punjabi restaurant Moti Mahal in Old Delhi. The story goes that one day near closing time, a group of hungry poor people came to the restaurant. The kitchen used leftover tomatoes, butter, and spices to make a sauce, then added leftover Tandoori roasted chicken. They did not expect it to create such a unique flavor. Today, making this dish starts by marinating the chicken in lemon, yogurt, Kashmiri red chili, salt, Garam Masala spice, ginger, and garlic. It is then roasted in a tandoor oven before being added to a curry made of butter, tomatoes, and various spices.















June 13, Yanlanlou Anzhen branch.

I had lamb neck, minced meat noodles (saozimian), and pea soup (huidouzi) at the Yanlanlou Anzhen branch. I miss the lamb neck I had in Yinchuan; it was so tender.









June 16, Chidao Yakiniku lunch set.

This was my first lunch set at Chidao since returning to work. I had the teriyaki chicken. The restaurant has now changed its name to Changying Sanxiongdi.







June 16, Dachangying Restaurant.

For dinner at Dachangying, I had fish head with flatbread. The mustard-marinated cabbage (jieshudun) was a great appetizer to beat the heat, and the Chinese kale with yam was very crisp. The dish used half a bighead carp and a broth made from beef bones. The freshly baked flatbread was very crispy and delicious, though the fish soup was a bit salty, haha. The server told me they are hosting an ambassador from an African country next week. It seems even ambassadors enjoy Beijing-style flavors.













June 17, Lahore Restaurant

I had a Lahore beef egg burger with lassi at Lahore Restaurant because I was craving a burger. This combination reminds me of the South Asian fast-food shops in Dubai.









June 19, Hotan Canteen on Ritan Upper Street

My biggest surprise lately is finding the best Uyghur restaurant in Beijing: Hotan Canteen on Ritan Upper Street! This spot used to be the Uyghur restaurant Red Willow, then it became the Turkish restaurant Rumi's Secret for 20 years. This year, Rumi's Secret moved to Urumqi, and now this new Uyghur restaurant, Hotan Canteen, has opened here.

I have to say, their pilaf (zhua fan), hand-pulled noodles (ban mian), and steamed meat dumplings (baopi baozi) are the best I have ever had at a Uyghur restaurant in Beijing. After eating here, the places I previously considered top-tier, like Ali, White Diamond, and Kashgar Mahmut, have all been bumped down to second place. It is no exaggeration to say that even back in Urumqi, you would be hard-pressed to find a restaurant that beats this Hotan eatery.

The lamb leg in the pilaf (zhua fan) is so tender that I almost cried after the first bite. I have lived in Beijing for many years and have never eaten such fresh, tender lamb leg in any restaurant here. The hand-pulled noodles (latiaozi) in the mixed noodles are very thin and have a fantastic texture. I finished the whole bowl in one go and could not stop. The skin of the thin-skinned steamed buns (baopi baozi) is the thinnest I have ever eaten in Beijing. The lamb filling is meaty and not too oily, and the pumpkin filling is very rare in Beijing and also tastes great.

Their mug-stewed lamb (gangzi rou) comes in a huge mug, haha. However, the amount of meat inside is not as much as it looks; it is just the standard portion you get from street vendors in Xinjiang. The lamb broth is very soothing for the stomach.



















I highly recommend their grilled stuffed spleen (kaoseipi)! I do not know why this classic Xinjiang delicacy is missing from all the Uyghur restaurants in Beijing, but I am glad I finally got to eat it. Grilled stuffed spleen, also known as fake kidney, is made by stuffing lamb spleen with onions (piyazi), minced meat, and liver before grilling it. It has a very rich texture.

My favorite dish here is the Hotan salt mine barbecue (hetian yankuang kaorou). It is roasted using earth salt and seasoned only with salt water, without any chili or cumin, which is the traditional way to eat it in Hotan. Their salt mine barbecue is so tender and fragrant that it is the kind of food that makes you want to cry after just one bite. I also ordered their grilled tenderloin, which tasted fine, but it was not as amazing as the salt mine barbecue.

In the summer, I definitely recommend their Kashgar yogurt shaved ice (kashi suannai baobing). The yogurt flavor is very rich and authentic, and it is incredibly refreshing. Also, the fig jam on their Hotan fig jam yogurt rice dumpling (wuhuaguo jiang suannai zongzi) is very fragrant.

Finally, I have to mention that there are some dishes here that do not taste good. First of all, their non-Xinjiang local dishes are not done well; the sweet and sour fish tasted a bit fishy. It is also a pity that their yogurt is not good; it lacks a real yogurt flavor and only tastes sweet. The only truly authentic Xinjiang yogurt I have had in Beijing so far is from Kashe Maihemuti.



















June 22, Lahore Restaurant

It was unusually cool at noon, so I went to the Pakistani restaurant Lahore Restaurant for a weekday lunch set. There were a few combinations to choose from, and I had the Achari chicken curry with saffron rice and Pakistani curry.









June 25, Family Dinner

For our family dinner, I made beef brisket stewed with potatoes and minced meat with eggplant served with five types of noodle toppings. Zainabu kneaded the dough, my dad pulled the noodles, and my mom steamed a fish.









June 26, Qingu in Changying

I ate the stone pot bibimbap at Qingu and worked up a real sweat!







June 30, Liuji Mending Baodu

I have been eating the soybean paste noodles (zhajiangmian) with large meat skewers at Liu's for years.









July 3, Lahore Restaurant

I ate stewed lamb trotters, Punjabi chickpeas, chicken biryani, and yogurt drink (lassi) at Lahore Restaurant on Youth Road (Qingnian Lu). After eating here so many times, I still think their stewed lamb trotters are the best; they are cooked until tender and full of flavor!













July 4, mixed noodles

It is my birthday today, and Zainab made me mixed noodles (banmian).





July 9, Hotan Canteen

Iftar meal for the Day of Arafah at Hotan Canteen.















July 10, Eid al-Adha feast.

Eid Mubarak. Today there are seven sunnah acts: perform ghusl, brush your teeth, wear clean and tidy clothes, use perfume, recite the takbir, eat and drink only after the Eid prayer, and perform the qurbani. Today we are having a sheep slaughtered on our behalf that was raised in the Southern Mountains of Urumqi by Zainab's second uncle. Every year before Eid al-Adha, his family collects a batch of sheep from herders in Altay and Tacheng. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Halal Food Diary: Summer 2022 Muslim Food and Mosques is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: I went to the Indian restaurant Mughal Darbar in the basement food court of Hongqiao Market. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Halal Food, Summer Diary, Muslim Food while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.







July 12, Indian restaurant Mughal Darbar.

I went to the Indian restaurant Mughal Darbar in the basement food court of Hongqiao Market. The name translates directly to 'Mughal Court'. The Chinese name is 'Love in Curry' (Ai Zai Gali), which feels a lot less impressive, haha. The owner is a Muslim from Delhi, and the guy at the front desk is also from Delhi. Even though he is not Muslim, he says 'salam' and 'bismillah' very fluently. Many of their dishes really do come from the Mughal Empire.

We ate spinach cheese curry (Palak Paneer), lamb curry (Rogan Josh), vegetable fried dumplings (Samosa), spiced yogurt drink (Masala Chach), chicken rice (Biryani), and butter flatbread (Roti).

Rogan Josh is a specialty curry from Kashmir. The Mughals brought it there when they went to Kashmir to escape the summer heat during the Mughal Empire. It mainly uses alkanet root (alkanet) and Kashmiri chili as seasonings. 'Rogan' comes from the Persian word for 'clarified butter' (roughan), and 'josh' is the Persian word for 'stew'.

Palak paneer is a North Indian vegetarian curry made with Indian white soft cheese (paneer, which comes from the Persian word for cheese, panir) and spinach puree. It is a classic home-cooked Indian dish.

The samosa curry puff comes from the Persian word 'sanbosag'. It is a classic street snack brought to South Asia by Central Asian merchants in the 13th and 14th centuries. This shop's samosas are very large and filled with mashed potatoes.

Biryani also comes from a Persian word. Legend says it was created by Mughal palace chefs who combined spicy Indian rice with Persian pilaf.

Traditional buttermilk (chach) is made by mixing yogurt and water with a tool called a 'madhani', then seasoning it with spices like masala. Chach is similar to the common Indian yogurt drink (lassi), but chach is thinner and uses spices instead of sugar or fruit jam. Chach is very popular in India's desert regions and the hot areas of South India. People often choose a glass of chach to rehydrate after being out in the sun.



















July 14, Yongshun Fried Chicken at the Yiguzhai franchise on Daliushu Road.

Yongshun Fried Chicken at the Yiguzhai franchise on Daliushu Road. You can eat a large chicken leg in the shop, and it comes with a free drink.







July 16, Longxianghui on Dongsi North Street.

I love the stewed flatbread (hubo) at Longxianghui, even though eating it in the summer makes me sweat all over.





July 16, stewed meat with flatbread.

Listening to storytelling made me hungry, so today I stewed beef brisket and bought a griddle-baked flatbread (laobing) from Niujie to make stewed meat with flatbread, a classic dish from the Water Margin!







July 17, Cheese Wei in Niujie.

The original flavor cheese and the yogurt jade rabbit from Cheese Wei in Niujie.









July 16, Xilaishun.

After listening to storytelling, I went to Xilaishun to eat and ordered my favorites: stir-fried chicken cubes in bean sauce (jiangbao jiding), Ma Lianliang duck, deep-fried shrimp, and mixed wild mountain vegetables. Every time I go to their place, I order the stir-fried chicken with soybean paste (jiangbao jiding) and two bowls of rice. I never get tired of it! I have been eating Ma Lianliang duck for many years. For a few years, their duck was a bit fatty, but in the last two years, they have gone back to a leaner style. The meat is fried until tender and the skin is crispy. You can even eat the bones. For the past two years, they have served the duck with flatbread (bing). It tastes even better when you eat it as a sandwich.

I ordered the deep-fried shrimp (zha peng xia) for Zainab. It was my first time trying their version. The batter felt a bit hard, but the shrimp inside was very tender.















July 17, Jia San Soup Dumplings (Jia San guantangbao).

I had lunch at Jia San on Baiyun Road and enjoyed their soup dumplings (guantangbao). It was delicious. I also had the stir-fried lamb (yangrou xiaochao) and the mixed vegetable stew (huicai). Their stir-fried lamb was a bit too salty compared to the local version in Xi'an. Next time, I will just stick to the regular soaked bread (paomo).

















Jia San sells hot chili oil (youpo lazi), chili powder (lamianzi), and peanuts. It feels like I am pretending to be back in the Muslim Quarter (fangshang).







July 19, Qurbani sheep

We made the intention for our Qurbani sheep, and Zaynab's uncle had it slaughtered for us in the Nanshan mountains of Urumqi. It arrived in Beijing last Saturday. Zaynab's uncle bought these Kazakh fat-tailed sheep from herders in Yili and Tacheng ahead of time.

On Saturday and Sunday, we gave lamb to a few friends (dosti) and took a trip to Niujie. Sharing is an important part of Qurbani, and it brings many rewards.

Today I stewed the Qurbani lamb. It is so fragrant when boiled plain; you do not need any seasonings, just a little salt. After stewing the lamb, I added baby bok choy and tofu to the broth, so we had both meat and vegetables.















July 23, Ma's Handmade Dumplings

At noon, we ate Northeast-style cold noodles and fresh hand-cut noodles with soybean paste (zhajiangmian) at Ma's Handmade Dumplings in the basement supermarket of the New World mall outside Chongwenmen. The shop is run by Hui Muslims from Fushun, Liaoning. Last time I visited, they didn't offer dine-in, but now you can eat right there. They have also added various braised meats and pickles, like shredded eggplant and pickled cucumbers.

















July 23: The newly opened Bangdan'er Meatball Soup inside Xinjiang Mansion.

The new Bangdan'er Meatball Soup is inside Xinjiang Mansion, right as you enter the east gate. It is a bit tucked away, so not many people have been there yet. Their specialty is meatball soup served with fried dough (youxiang), which is very authentic. The Changji flavor is excellent. You cannot find these meatballs in typical Beijing restaurants, though they do put a bit too much vermicelli in it. My wife broke the fried dough (youxiang) for me; how happy I am.













Inside Bangdan'er Meatball Soup, there is a naan culture exhibition hall, and there is a Xinjiang specialty shop right across from it.



















July 24: Eating breakfast at home.





July 26: Syrian baklava.

I once took photos at a Syrian pastry shop in Yiwu and posted them on Douban, and many friends went to buy their pastries after seeing them. I later found out the owner, Omar, had been asking around about me and recently had a friend send me some baklava. I sincerely wish their business all the best!







July 30, Yiyuan Restaurant in Xiguan City.

I had knife-cut noodles (daoxiaomian) for lunch at Yiyuan Restaurant in Xiguan City, which also serves corn noodles (helemian) and oat noodles (youmian) from the Bashang region. Because the area was a common route for Qing Dynasty armed escorts, the food in Xiguan City was influenced by the Jin dialect region and is very different from that of Hui Muslims in other parts of Beijing. Eating a bowl of knife-cut noodles from the Hui Muslims in Xiguan City is a way to taste the history of the Qing Dynasty's westward migration culture.



















August 2, Liangtaoxuan at the Lama Temple.

After work, I had Hezhou beef noodles at the Liangtaoxuan Yonghegong branch. I usually eat at the Shilihe branch, but this was my first time at the Yonghegong location. It is inside the basement food court of an office building, and the entrance is very hidden.

I ordered the classic dry-mixed beef noodles with extra meat, and Zainab ordered the garlic sprout and meat mixed noodles. One noodle type was thin and the other thick, but both were very chewy. In my opinion, these are the best hand-pulled noodles (lamian) in Beijing.

Besides the great noodles, the restaurant has a strong commitment to the faith. They often visit the Bo Hazhi gongbei in Changping for religious gatherings (gan'ermaili). The waiter was also very kind. When he saw that Zainab was pregnant, he took the initiative to ask the kitchen to make a lighter version of the mixed noodles for her.











August 4, Longxianghui on Dongsi North Street.

In the evening, I ate a mix of cold noodles and beef tendon noodles, hand-grabbed lamb (shouzhuayangrou), ice jelly (bingfen), and apricot peel tea (xingpicha) at Longxianghui on Dongsi North Street.











August 6, ate big plate chicken (dapanji) and hand-held lamb (shoubarou) at home.









August 7, Ali at Ritan Shangjie.

Ali at Ritan Shangjie, serving rice pilaf (zhuafan), mixed noodles (banmian), barbecue (kaorou), and meat in naan bread (nangbaorou).













August 8, Xilaisun.

Ma Lianliang duck and stir-fried chicken cubes in bean sauce (jiangbao jiding) at Xilaisun.









August 8, Ashura lamb and bean rice.

The 10th day of the first month in the Islamic calendar is the honorable Day of Ashura, the first important day after the Islamic New Year. Hui Muslims in China traditionally fast today and make Ashura porridge. After work today, Zainab and I made the Urumqi Hui Muslim version of Ashura lamb and bean rice together.

We prepared seven types of beans and cooked them in a pressure cooker. Then, we diced the Qurbani lamb, rendered the lamb fat, and stir-fried it with chopped green onions before adding salt and Sichuan peppercorn powder. Once the beans were cooked, we added rice and glutinous rice, followed by the stir-fried lamb, and simmered everything until the rice was done. The dish has the fresh scent of beans and the savory taste of lamb. I ate two big bowls and still wanted more.

We actually make Ashura bean porridge to commemorate the landing of Nuh's ship, also known as Noah's Ark. I am sharing the origin of Ashura bean porridge as told by Imam An from the Jingjue Mosque in Nanjing: On the Day of Ashura, the Prophet Nuh and his followers stepped off the ship and fasted that day to thank Allah. At that time, they had almost run out of food. One person took out a handful of wheat, another a handful of mung beans, and another a handful of fava beans. After the Prophet Nuh gathered seven types of seeds, he boiled them together so everyone could break their fast. By the will of Allah and the blessing (mu'ezhize) of the Prophet. This small amount of food was enough to feed everyone who got off the boat. This was the first meal cooked on the ground after the floodwaters receded, so people consider it a blessing from the Prophet Nuh. The Prophet Nuh is known as the second ancestor of humanity.













August 9, Changying Chidao Barbecue.

I ate a teriyaki chicken set meal and yakitori skewers at Changying Chidao Barbecue, and ordered wagyu beef, beef tongue, and okra. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Halal Food Diary: Summer 2022 Muslim Food and Mosques is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Lamb for Eid al-Adha (Qurban), bean rice for Ashura, and fried dough (youxiang) for religious gatherings (niansuoer). The account keeps its focus on Beijing Halal Food, Summer Diary, Muslim Food while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.



August 9, Faith and Food

Lamb for Eid al-Adha (Qurban), bean rice for Ashura, and fried dough (youxiang) for religious gatherings (niansuoer).





August 10

It was my first day staying at home. I got a call from the community office in the morning and headed home from work. I had some time at noon to shop, so I rushed to the Niuniu market in Changying to buy chicken, meat, and fillings to prepare for big plate chicken (dapanji), meatball soup (wanzi tang), and hand-pulled noodles (latiaozi).







At noon, my father-in-law made green bean and meat stir-fry and yellow chive and meat stir-fry. The secret is to add plenty of green onions, Sichuan peppercorn powder, and dried chili skins (lapizi) so the flavor really pops. My father-in-law said he used half a whole green onion for just one dish.













In the afternoon, my father-in-law made lamb dough-flake soup (jiupianzi), which is a type of soup-based meal.









My father-in-law made steamed fried dough (youxiang) using fenugreek powder (xiangdou fen), a breakfast essential while staying at home.













August 11, meatball soup (wanzi tang).

On our second day at home, the whole family made meatball soup together. In the morning, we first simmered a pot of meat broth, then fried the meatballs.

We used one jin (500 grams) of ground beef, one level spoonful of star anise powder, one full spoonful of Sichuan peppercorn powder, one full spoonful of salt, and poured in half a ladle of hot oil.

We minced half a piece of ginger into tiny bits, added it to the mix, and stirred it well. We cracked one egg into the mixture and kept mixing. Then we added half a small bowl of dry starch, kneaded the mixture repeatedly, and it was ready to fry.

We added frozen tofu, spinach, king oyster mushrooms, cilantro, and the fried meatballs into the meat broth, and the delicious meatball soup was ready. Break the fried dough (youxiang) into pieces and eat it with the meal.



















August 12, pilaf (zhuafan).

On the third day at home, my father-in-law made pilaf, I brewed brick tea, and Zainab made yogurt.

My father-in-law learned how to make some of the pilaf from the owner of a Uyghur pilaf restaurant near our house.

For Eid al-Adha, take one portion of lamb chops and one portion of lamb front leg, soak them for 20 minutes, then add salt, Sichuan peppercorns, and a little ginger to boil for 30 minutes. Take out the cooked lamb, stir-fry it in plenty of oil until dry, and add two spoonfuls of salt. Add carrot strips and onion chunks (piyazi), stir until the carrots shrink and soften, then take out the meat.

Spread two bowls of rice over the carrots; we used rice from Miquan. Add the lamb stew broth until it covers the rice by about the width of a finger. If you need more liquid, add water. Add two spoonfuls of granulated sugar (shazi tang) and a little cumin powder. Uyghur restaurants usually add a large amount of rock sugar and some whole cumin seeds. Finally, place the meat on top.

Turn the heat to high. Once the water boils, use chopsticks to poke a few holes in the rice. Then, turn the heat to low to steam it. Do not lift the lid during this time, but rotate the pot occasionally so it heats evenly. After steaming for 30 minutes, flip the rice from the top to the bottom, then steam for another 10 minutes and it is ready.



















August 13, chive pockets (jiucai hezi).

Day four at home, my father-in-law made chive pockets (jiucai hezi) for me. Scramble the eggs, add the chives, then pour hot oil over them. Add plenty of salt and Sichuan peppercorn powder (huajiao mian). The flour used is from Qitai. Scald it with boiling water before wrapping the pockets.



















August 14, Big Plate Chicken (dapanji)

On the fifth day of staying home, Zainab stir-fried the Big Plate Chicken (dapanji), and my father-in-law made the belt noodles (pidaimian). We used a free-range chicken with black claws that I bought from Dazhang in Changying. It tastes exactly like the Big Plate Chicken (dapanji) from Urumqi in the 1990s.

In the top right corner is tomato paste and bean paste (doubanjiang), and below that is the special seasoning mix for the Big Plate Chicken (dapanji).











August 15, Braised Meatballs (huiwanzi)

On the fifth day of staying home, I made Braised Meatballs (huiwanzi). They go perfectly with rice.





August 16, Hand-pulled Noodles (latiaozi)

On the seventh day of staying home, I still love eating the romantic meal made by my father-in-law.













August 17, eating flatbread with fried chicken and fried skewers at Yin's in Changying.

I had a flatbread sandwich with fried chicken and fried skewers at Yinji in Changying. It had chicken and a squid skewer inside, and it tasted pretty good. Then I grabbed some cold skin noodles (liangpi) from the supermarket next door.









August 19, Sultan, a Pakistani restaurant in Sanduhe Village, Huairou.

By mid-August, the muggy heat in Beijing eased up, so we drove to Huairou for a halal getaway.

We arrived at Sanduhe Village in Huairou in the evening and started at the Pakistani restaurant Sultan. We had butter naan, spicy yogurt (Raita), rice (Biryani), tandoori chicken legs, beef curry (Kadhi), grilled shrimp, milk tea, and mint lemonade. To be fair, their portions are small and the prices are high, but the food is really delicious. It is better than some of the Pakistani restaurants in the city. Their butter naan is especially good. It comes out of the oven fluffy and smells amazing. The chicken legs and beef taste great. My father-in-law and Zainab especially liked the milk tea, which has a very rich milk and tea flavor. The only downside is that the shrimp probably sat out too long, so the texture was mushy.

It is rare to find yogurt sauce (raita) made with fresh spicy peppers. It has a strong spicy kick and tastes very unique. Raita is a Hindi word formed by combining the Sanskrit words "rajika" and "tiktaka," which mean "black mustard seeds" and "pungent." To make it, you fry black mustard seeds and cumin, mix them with chopped vegetables, and stir them into yogurt.





















Playing in the restaurant at night.



Gourd vines in the restaurant.







August 20, Xingyuanzhai Ethnic Restaurant in Sanduhe Village, Huairou.

In the morning, we ate grilled golden trout, cornmeal flatbread (hubing), scrambled eggs with green onions, seasonal wild amaranth (yugu cai), and fried fresh river shrimp at Xingyuanzhai Ethnic Restaurant in Sanduhe Village. This place is run by Hui Muslims from the Hui Muslim camp in Shunyi. They specialize in golden trout and rainbow trout. The meat is tender like garlic cloves, and their other dishes are very flavorful. Zaynab especially loved the small river shrimp. If you are visiting the mountains in Huairou, like Mutianyu or Xiangshui Lake, I recommend eating here.

















August 20, Masala Pakistani Restaurant in downtown Huairou.

In the afternoon, I had a beef burger, cheese pizza, chickpea curry, and watermelon shaved ice at Masala Pakistani Restaurant in downtown Huairou. This restaurant has the same owner as Sultan up on the mountain, and the menu is about the same. Their cheese pizza is super delicious and very fluffy; I bet they use the same dough as they do for their butter naan. The chickpea curry and watermelon shaved ice were also quite good. Unfortunately, the burger was not great. The bun lacked texture and the beef was too tough, making it uncomfortable to eat.















August 24, Run Gesheng on Gulou South Street in Miyun.

I drove to Miyun city center after work and arrived at Run'gesheng on Drum Tower South Street in the evening. The restaurant was recently renovated this year and the environment is very nice. We ordered steamed tofu (kaibao doufu) and red steamed beef. The steamed tofu is made by steaming the tofu and mixing it with various seasonings. Adding chive flower sauce really makes it flavorful! The red steamed beef has a great texture and is likely one of the eight classic bowls (badawan) of the Hui Muslims, though Zainab and my father-in-law both said it was a bit salty. I guess I will be experiencing the salty taste of traditional Beijing suburban dishes every day for a while, haha.













August 25, Changshunzhai on Nanda Street in Miyun.

In the morning, we ate old-broth lamb offal soup (laotang yangza), beef ingot soup (niurou yuanbao tang), and freshly fried meat flatbread (shaobing) at Changshunzhai on Nanda Street in Miyun. The lamb offal tasted great, but my father-in-law and Zainab still could not get used to the salty taste of traditional Beijing suburban food. The flatbread was fried until crispy, and the aroma of the sesame really came through. The ingot-shaped dumplings (yuanbaotang) have thin skins and plenty of filling, and they taste great.

















August 25, outside the Miyun Mosque.

I bought radish-filled buns (xianbobo) at Guangjuzhai outside the Miyun Mosque, and old-fashioned mooncakes with chestnut, five-kernel, and black sesame fillings at Dongfang Zhenshun Bakery. They were all delicious. Most of the halal signs here in Miyun use Persian blue, which matches the style outside the Great Wall.















August 25, Fuhua Zhengxing Folk Restaurant in Mujia Yu, Miyun.

I ate beef pancakes, beef in a clay pot, mixed lamb liver, and stir-fried pumpkin at Fuhua Zhengxing Folk Restaurant in Mujia Yu. It was my first time eating at a farm-style restaurant in Miyun, so I didn't know what to expect and ordered way too much, haha. The flaky beef pancakes are delicious! The mixed lamb liver (ban yanggan) is very flavorful, but the beef has a lot of gristle and fat. It would be better if it were leaner.

The owner is very welcoming. As soon as he saw that Zainab was pregnant, he quickly moved us into a quiet room in the back to eat. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Halal Food Diary: Summer 2022 Muslim Food and Mosques is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: At Shanshui Tianyuan Ethnic Restaurant in Mujiaoyu, we ate stir-fried beef with wild mushrooms, stir-fried tofu and wood ear mushrooms, deep-fried topmouth culter (qiaozui), and cornmeal flatbreads (tiebingzi). The account keeps its focus on Beijing Halal Food, Summer Diary, Muslim Food while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.











August 25, Shanshui Tianyuan Ethnic Restaurant in Mujiaoyu, Miyun.

At Shanshui Tianyuan Ethnic Restaurant in Mujiaoyu, we ate stir-fried beef with wild mushrooms, stir-fried tofu and wood ear mushrooms, deep-fried topmouth culter (qiaozui), and cornmeal flatbreads (tiebingzi). A large iron pot of freshly made flatbreads cost only 15 yuan, and we couldn't even finish them. The deep-fried fish was very satisfying, but the portion was huge. Overall, eating at a farmhouse restaurant means big, affordable portions, which reminded me of eating in Northeast China, haha.

Also, the Hui Muslim banquet dish Eight Great Bowls (badawan) in Mujiaoyu has a long history. When the Miyun Reservoir was built in 1958, all residents of the Shixia Ancient City in the flooded area were relocated. A group of Hui Muslims surnamed Li, who were experts at making the Eight Great Bowls, moved to Mujiaoyu, which is how the current Mujiaoyu halal Eight Great Bowls came to be.













August 26, Hexingzhai Halal Restaurant in Mujiaoyu, Miyun.

In the morning, I had tofu pudding (doufunao), soy milk (doujiang), fried dough (youbing), and meat flatbread (shaobing) at Hexingzhai Halal Restaurant in Mujiayu. This place seems to be the only breakfast spot in the North Mujiayu Hui Muslim village. Their homemade fresh chive flower sauce is especially delicious, and the meat flatbread is very flavorful.





















August 26, Gubeikou Halal Snack Shop, Miyun.

This is the only halal snack shop in Gubeikou Town. The owner's surname is Cao, and he is a local Hui Muslim from Gubeikou. The ancestors of the Cao-surnamed Hui Muslims in North China were originally surnamed Li. They lived in Erlanggang, Nanjing, which research suggests was a station for Semu people who surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. During the Yongle reign, they followed the emperor to Beijing. On the return trip, one ancestor stayed in Cangzhou due to illness, married into the Cao family, and his descendants changed their surname to Cao. The Cao-surnamed Hui Muslims from Cangzhou later spread throughout North China, and one branch settled in Gubeikou during the Qing Dynasty.

Their shop is famous for selling flatbread (shaobing) and lamb offal soup (yangza) in the morning. At noon, they serve lamb dumplings and stir-fried flatbread (chaobing). It is just a small shop run by a husband and wife. Boss Cao looks a bit stern, but he is actually very friendly. He chatted with me about the situation of the Hui Muslims in Gubeikou. He said that most of the Hui Muslims in Gubeikou have moved away, and some of them have relocated near the Miyun Mosque.











August 26, Tanghe Halal Restaurant in Gubei Water Town, Miyun.

Most Hui Muslims visiting Gubei Water Town stop by this Tanghe Halal Restaurant. The building mimics the Hengchang Ruiji storefront on Dongsi Fourth Alley. It has a classic, antique look and a very nice atmosphere.







Their menu is a mix of styles, with the main dishes being big plate chicken (dapanji) and roasted lamb (shao yangrou). We looked at the big plate chicken other tables ordered. It had too many potatoes and no wide belt noodles (pidaimian), just flatbread (nang) underneath, so we ordered the roasted lamb instead. They serve the roasted lamb like roast duck, with yellow bean sauce for dipping and lotus leaf pancakes (heye bing) for wrapping. It was pretty good. However, the fried coating on the roasted lamb wasn't fragrant enough, and the flavor didn't soak into the meat. This made the fatty parts feel greasy. It is not quite as good as truly delicious roasted lamb, but I am satisfied to find a restaurant like this inside a tourist area.









August 27, Yishun Halal Snack Shop in Taishitun Town, Miyun.

Gubei Water Town has no halal breakfast. The closest option is the sesame flatbread (shaobing) and lamb offal soup (yangza) at the Gubei Kou Town Halal Snack Shop. We wanted something different, so we drove south to the Yishun Halal Snack Shop in Taishitun Town that morning.

This restaurant is run by local Hui Muslims from Taishitun. They are the only Hui Muslim family in Taishitun town. There are dozens more families in Lugezhuang to the south, but this is the only halal restaurant in the area. The restaurant is right on the edge of town. There is a cornfield behind it, which gives it a real countryside feel.

We arrived after nine in the morning and they were already serving their full menu. The dishes are similar to the Hui Muslim farmhouse food in Mujiaoyu, focusing on beef pancakes (niuroubing) and the eight classic Hui Muslim bowls (Hui min ba da wan), along with some home-style stir-fries. We ordered half a jin of beef pancakes, stir-fried eggs with tomatoes (muxu chao shizi), boiled lamb head (baishui yangtou), and tofu in a clay pot (shaguo doufu). Everything tasted great, making for a very hearty breakfast, haha.



















August 27, Kunanchun Folk Restaurant in Mujiaoyu, Miyun.

A halal farmhouse restaurant in Mujiaoyu: Kunanchun Folk Restaurant. We ate fish head with flatbread (yutou paobing), which was three jin of bighead carp served with freshly baked home-style flatbread (jiachang bing), and we also ordered a braised three-mushroom dish (hui san jun). I called ahead to ask for less salt and had them start the stew, so it was ready to eat as soon as we arrived. The reservoir fish was not as chewy as the rainbow trout we had last week, but it was delicious in its own way. Everyone was very happy and wanted more, saying we should order a whole five or six-pound fish next time.















August 30, eating dumplings.

My father-in-law made delicious long bean dumplings. They had thin skins and big fillings, looking like small steamed buns (baozi).













August 31, Jia San Steamed Buns (baozi) at Baiyun Temple.

We went to Jia San Steamed Buns (baozi) at Baiyun Temple for lamb pita bread soup (yangrou paomo) and beef tail soup-filled buns (guantang bao), then bought strip flatbread (pitiao nang), yogurt, and barbecue at the nearby Kashgar Mahmut restaurant. I love both of these places and always struggle to choose between them, but this time I finally got to eat at both, haha.









August 31, Kashgar Mahmut Restaurant at Baiyun Temple.

Kashgar Maihemuti's yogurt is the most authentic Xinjiang-style yogurt in all of Beijing; one bite and you feel like you have been transported straight back to Xingxing Gorge. Freshly baked flatbread (nang) has such a strong wheat aroma that the whole bus smells like it on the way home. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Halal Food Guide: Beijing Ramadan Iftar — Middle Eastern and South Asian Restaurants is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: The iftar buffets in Beijing during Ramadan each year are a real highlight. This year, several restaurants are offering Middle Eastern and South Asian iftar buffets, making it a good chance for a food tour. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Halal Food, Ramadan Dining, Muslim Food while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

The iftar buffets in Beijing during Ramadan each year are a real highlight. This year, four restaurants from Turkey, Tunisia, Jordan, and Pakistan are offering iftar buffets, making it the perfect chance for a food tour of the Middle East and South Asia.

1. Turkey

The first stop is Dardanelles, a long-standing Ramadan iftar buffet spot on Ritan Upper Street. It is a Turkish restaurant run by Azerbaijanis, so they serve both Turkish and Azerbaijani flavors.

The best part is the unlimited grilled meat from their open-flame oven, including roast chicken, lamb chops, and kebab meat paste—you can eat your fill! They also have all kinds of flatbread (nang) and bread, plus Levantine appetizers and stews. They serve lentil soup made from three colors of lentils. For drinks, they have lemonade, salty yogurt drink (ayran), and Turkish black tea. For dessert, there is classic baklava and milk pudding, along with various fruits. Overall, their selection is really rich.









Freshly grilled in an open oven





Baklava is the most famous dessert of the Ottoman Empire, developed by the royal chefs at the Ottoman Topkapi Palace. Every year on the 15th day of Ramadan, the Ottoman Sultan would attend a ceremony called Baklava Alayı, where trays of baklava were distributed to the Janissaries.

Baklava is a flaky pastry made by layering very thin unleavened dough (filo), topped with crushed pistachios, crushed walnuts, syrup, or honey.





Traditional Levantine appetizers were brought to Turkey and Azerbaijan following the Ottoman Empire.





Adana kebab served with yogurt.



Azerbaijani pilaf (plov) and saffron rice served with various stews.



Beef stewed with apricots and lamb liver are my favorites; eating them feels like being back in the Old City of Baku.







Stuffed vegetable rolls (dolma) can be made with grape leaves or cabbage, and this dish is very popular in former Ottoman regions.





2. Tunisia

The second stop is La Medina, a Tunisian restaurant on Liangma River. First, follow the Sunnah by eating dates, then drink harissa soup. The first plate includes North African sausage (merguez), grilled meat (kebab), six types of Levantine and Maghreb appetizers (meze), fried chickpea balls (falafel), and fried meat balls (kibbeh). You can put the appetizers (meze) and fried chickpea balls (falafel) inside pita bread.













Harissa is known as the national condiment of Tunisia. It is a signature spicy sauce from the Maghreb region made with Maghreb-style Baklouti peppers mixed with caraway, coriander seeds, cumin, garlic, and other spices. The name Baklouti comes from the coastal Tunisian city of Bekalta.



North African sausage (merguez) is made with lamb and beef, mixed with fennel seeds, harissa, chili, and various other spices, and is usually grilled. Merguez sausage (merguez) first appeared in 12th-century Andalusia and later spread across North Africa. In Beijing, you can only find it at La Medina.



Falafel is common in restaurants across the former Ottoman regions, but Kibbeh is not found everywhere. Kibbeh originated in the Levant. It is made of cracked wheat wrapped around a filling of minced meat, chopped onions, and Middle Eastern spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice.



The Tunisian appetizer Mechouia is only available at this restaurant in Beijing. Mechouia is made by roasting onions, green peppers, tomatoes, and garlic in an oven, then seasoning them with caraway, salt, and black pepper. After it is prepared, it is drizzled with olive oil and garnished with olives, tuna, and boiled eggs.



Classic chickpea dip (hummus) is available in almost every Middle Eastern restaurant.



Tabbouleh (tabbouleh) is made of chopped parsley, tomatoes, mint, onions, and bulgur (cracked dried wheat). It is seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.



Roasted eggplant dip (mutabbal) is served with olive oil and lemon juice.



North African eggs (shakshouka) is a traditional Maghreb dish. It is made by poaching eggs in a sauce of tomatoes, olive oil, peppers, onions, and garlic, seasoned with cumin and chili. This dish appeared in the mid-16th century after tomatoes and peppers were introduced to North Africa from the Americas during the Ottoman period.



The second dish was the classic North African Berber meal of couscous (couscous) served with a clay pot stew (tajine). Couscous is a staple food for the Berber people. It is made by rolling semolina flour into millet-sized grains and then drying them. A tagine (tajigu) is a clay pot with a flat, round bottom and a cone-shaped or domed lid. This design lets steam condense and drip back to the bottom, and you can also add water through a hole in the lid.







For dessert, we had Basbousa, which comes from Egypt. They let you add your own crushed pistachios, so I scooped on a big spoonful. Basbousa is a semolina cake soaked in syrup. It is baked in a pan and then soaked in orange blossom water, rose water, or simple syrup.



3. Jordan

Our third stop was Al Safir, a Levantine restaurant at Sanyuanqiao. The owner is a Palestinian from Jordan.

The three Ramadan iftar buffets I have tried so far each have their own style. Dardanelles has the most variety, and their open-flame grilled meat is unlimited. La Medina is the only place in Beijing where you can find a Maghreb buffet, which makes it very unique. Al Safir has the best selection of Levantine appetizers known as meze, and their falafel and grilled chicken wraps are the tastiest.













For a traditional Arab iftar, you follow the Sunnah by eating dates first, then drinking soup, usually lentil or chicken soup. Then you pray Maghrib, and after that, you start the main meal. At Al Safir, you can eat the most classic lamb fried dumplings (sambousek) that Arabs enjoy during Ramadan. This snack started as the Iranian sanbosag and later spread to many places along with Persian culture. It entered the Arab diet after the 10th century, reached South Asia with the Delhi Sultanate after the 13th century, and later traveled to China, Indonesia, and Africa with Muslim merchants.





The classic Levantine way to eat it is to put falafel and various sauces inside pita bread, or just dip the pita bread directly into the sauce. Among the various appetizers (meze), my favorite is the red tomato stew (qalayet bandora), which is probably only available at Al Safir in Beijing. This dish is made with tomatoes, onions, chili peppers, and olive oil. It is said to have originated in the villages near the Dead Sea, where the hot climate of the Jordan Valley is perfect for growing tomatoes. They also serve a walnut, red bell pepper, pomegranate molasses, and breadcrumb dip (muhammara), which is said to have originated in Aleppo, Syria.







Every year during the Ramadan iftar buffet, Al Safir makes dishes that are not on the regular menu. This time, I tried two types of lamb stewed with cheese for the first time, and there was also very tender lamb with potatoes, both of which go perfectly with long-grain rice.













Finally, they serve everyone a semolina cake (basbousa) for dessert. La Medina's buffet also has this dessert, but Al Safir's is less sweet, which I think tastes better.



4. Pakistan

The fourth stop is the Pakistani restaurant Khan Baba in Sanlitun. Because there are very few people lately, the meal today felt more relaxed, though the portion sizes are not as large as they used to be. We started with dates and water. For the main course, Zaynab chose flatbread (naan), and I picked the classic biryani rice with masala chicken, chicken tikka, and grilled fish. We had rose syrup water to drink. For dessert, we had milk pudding (kheer). Their yogurt tasted very authentic and sour. A few dishes here are worth mentioning.









The first is pea and minced beef curry (matar qeema). This dish was brought to South Asia by the Mughal Empire. The word qeema comes from the Chagatai language and means minced meat. Chagatai is an extinct Turkic language. It was once popular across the territory of the Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia. It served as a literary language in Central Asia until the early 20th century and is the direct ancestor of modern Uzbek. Pea and minced beef curry (keema matar) was very popular in the Mughal court. It was a must-have dish at weddings and various Eid feasts.



The second is vegetable fritters (pakora). Pakora comes from Sanskrit and means a small cooked piece. It is a classic South Asian street snack made by dipping vegetables in spiced batter and deep-frying them.



The third is tempered lentil curry (tarka dal). Tempered lentil curry (tarka dal) is a popular vegetarian curry in North India. In South Asia, dal can refer to various dried beans like pigeon peas, yellow peas, or lentils. Tarka is a vegetarian curry cooking method where garlic, onions, and chili are quickly fried together.



The fourth is milk pudding (kheer). This is an ancient Indian dish that was mentioned in ancient Indian texts over two thousand years ago. Kheer comes from the Sanskrit word for milk. It is made with milk, sugar, and rice, and topped with shredded coconut, saffron, pistachios, raisins, and almonds. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Halal Food Guide: Ramadan in Beijing — Turkish, Tunisian, Jordanian and Pakistani Buffets is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: The iftar buffets in Beijing during Ramadan each year are a real highlight. This year, four restaurants from Turkey, Tunisia, Jordan, and Pakistan are offering iftar buffets, making it the perfect chance for a food tour. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Halal Food, Ramadan Dining, Muslim Food while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

The iftar buffets in Beijing during Ramadan each year are a real highlight. This year, four restaurants from Turkey, Tunisia, Jordan, and Pakistan are offering iftar buffets, making it the perfect chance for a food tour of the Middle East and South Asia.

1. Turkey

The first stop is Dardanelles, a long-standing Ramadan iftar buffet spot on Ritan Upper Street. It is a Turkish restaurant run by Azerbaijanis, so they serve both Turkish and Azerbaijani flavors.

The best part is the unlimited grilled meat from their open-flame oven, including roast chicken, lamb chops, and kebab meat paste—you can eat your fill! They also have all kinds of flatbread (nang) and bread, plus Levantine appetizers and stews. They serve lentil soup made from three colors of lentils. For drinks, they have lemonade, salty yogurt drink (ayran), and Turkish black tea. For dessert, there is classic baklava and milk pudding, along with various fruits. Overall, their selection is really rich.









Freshly grilled in an open oven





Baklava is the most famous dessert of the Ottoman Empire, developed by the royal chefs at the Ottoman Topkapi Palace. Every year on the 15th day of Ramadan, the Ottoman Sultan would attend a ceremony called Baklava Alayı, where trays of baklava were distributed to the Janissaries.

Baklava is a flaky pastry made by layering very thin unleavened dough (filo), topped with crushed pistachios, crushed walnuts, syrup, or honey.





Traditional Levantine appetizers were brought to Turkey and Azerbaijan following the Ottoman Empire.





Adana kebab served with yogurt.



Azerbaijani pilaf (plov) and saffron rice served with various stews.



Beef stewed with apricots and lamb liver are my favorites; eating them feels like being back in the Old City of Baku.







Stuffed vegetable rolls (dolma) can be made with grape leaves or cabbage, and this dish is very popular in former Ottoman regions.





2. Tunisia

The second stop is La Medina, a Tunisian restaurant on Liangma River. First, follow the Sunnah by eating dates, then drink harissa soup. The first plate includes North African sausage (merguez), grilled meat (kebab), six types of Levantine and Maghreb appetizers (meze), fried chickpea balls (falafel), and fried meat balls (kibbeh). You can put the appetizers (meze) and fried chickpea balls (falafel) inside pita bread.













Harissa is known as the national condiment of Tunisia. It is a signature spicy sauce from the Maghreb region made with Maghreb-style Baklouti peppers mixed with caraway, coriander seeds, cumin, garlic, and other spices. The name Baklouti comes from the coastal Tunisian city of Bekalta.



North African sausage (merguez) is made with lamb and beef, mixed with fennel seeds, harissa, chili, and various other spices, and is usually grilled. Merguez sausage (merguez) first appeared in 12th-century Andalusia and later spread across North Africa. In Beijing, you can only find it at La Medina.



Falafel is common in restaurants across the former Ottoman regions, but Kibbeh is not found everywhere. Kibbeh originated in the Levant. It is made of cracked wheat wrapped around a filling of minced meat, chopped onions, and Middle Eastern spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice.



The Tunisian appetizer Mechouia is only available at this restaurant in Beijing. Mechouia is made by roasting onions, green peppers, tomatoes, and garlic in an oven, then seasoning them with caraway, salt, and black pepper. After it is prepared, it is drizzled with olive oil and garnished with olives, tuna, and boiled eggs.



Classic chickpea dip (hummus) is available in almost every Middle Eastern restaurant.



Tabbouleh (tabbouleh) is made of chopped parsley, tomatoes, mint, onions, and bulgur (cracked dried wheat). It is seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.



Roasted eggplant dip (mutabbal) is served with olive oil and lemon juice.



North African eggs (shakshouka) is a traditional Maghreb dish. It is made by poaching eggs in a sauce of tomatoes, olive oil, peppers, onions, and garlic, seasoned with cumin and chili. This dish appeared in the mid-16th century after tomatoes and peppers were introduced to North Africa from the Americas during the Ottoman period.



The second dish was the classic North African Berber meal of couscous (couscous) served with a clay pot stew (tajine). Couscous is a staple food for the Berber people. It is made by rolling semolina flour into millet-sized grains and then drying them. A tagine (tajigu) is a clay pot with a flat, round bottom and a cone-shaped or domed lid. This design lets steam condense and drip back to the bottom, and you can also add water through a hole in the lid.







For dessert, we had Basbousa, which comes from Egypt. They let you add your own crushed pistachios, so I scooped on a big spoonful. Basbousa is a semolina cake soaked in syrup. It is baked in a pan and then soaked in orange blossom water, rose water, or simple syrup.



3. Jordan

Our third stop was Al Safir, a Levantine restaurant at Sanyuanqiao. The owner is a Palestinian from Jordan.

The three Ramadan iftar buffets I have tried so far each have their own style. Dardanelles has the most variety, and their open-flame grilled meat is unlimited. La Medina is the only place in Beijing where you can find a Maghreb buffet, which makes it very unique. Al Safir has the best selection of Levantine appetizers known as meze, and their falafel and grilled chicken wraps are the tastiest.













For a traditional Arab iftar, you follow the Sunnah by eating dates first, then drinking soup, usually lentil or chicken soup. Then you pray Maghrib, and after that, you start the main meal. At Al Safir, you can eat the most classic lamb fried dumplings (sambousek) that Arabs enjoy during Ramadan. This snack started as the Iranian sanbosag and later spread to many places along with Persian culture. It entered the Arab diet after the 10th century, reached South Asia with the Delhi Sultanate after the 13th century, and later traveled to China, Indonesia, and Africa with Muslim merchants.





The classic Levantine way to eat it is to put falafel and various sauces inside pita bread, or just dip the pita bread directly into the sauce. Among the various appetizers (meze), my favorite is the red tomato stew (qalayet bandora), which is probably only available at Al Safir in Beijing. This dish is made with tomatoes, onions, chili peppers, and olive oil. It is said to have originated in the villages near the Dead Sea, where the hot climate of the Jordan Valley is perfect for growing tomatoes. They also serve a walnut, red bell pepper, pomegranate molasses, and breadcrumb dip (muhammara), which is said to have originated in Aleppo, Syria.







Every year during the Ramadan iftar buffet, Al Safir makes dishes that are not on the regular menu. This time, I tried two types of lamb stewed with cheese for the first time, and there was also very tender lamb with potatoes, both of which go perfectly with long-grain rice.













Finally, they serve everyone a semolina cake (basbousa) for dessert. La Medina's buffet also has this dessert, but Al Safir's is less sweet, which I think tastes better.



4. Pakistan

The fourth stop is the Pakistani restaurant Khan Baba in Sanlitun. Because there are very few people lately, the meal today felt more relaxed, though the portion sizes are not as large as they used to be. We started with dates and water. For the main course, Zaynab chose flatbread (naan), and I picked the classic biryani rice with masala chicken, chicken tikka, and grilled fish. We had rose syrup water to drink. For dessert, we had milk pudding (kheer). Their yogurt tasted very authentic and sour. A few dishes here are worth mentioning.









The first is pea and minced beef curry (matar qeema). This dish was brought to South Asia by the Mughal Empire. The word qeema comes from the Chagatai language and means minced meat. Chagatai is an extinct Turkic language. It was once popular across the territory of the Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia. It served as a literary language in Central Asia until the early 20th century and is the direct ancestor of modern Uzbek. Pea and minced beef curry (keema matar) was very popular in the Mughal court. It was a must-have dish at weddings and various Eid feasts.



The second is vegetable fritters (pakora). Pakora comes from Sanskrit and means a small cooked piece. It is a classic South Asian street snack made by dipping vegetables in spiced batter and deep-frying them.



The third is tempered lentil curry (tarka dal). Tempered lentil curry (tarka dal) is a popular vegetarian curry in North India. In South Asia, dal can refer to various dried beans like pigeon peas, yellow peas, or lentils. Tarka is a vegetarian curry cooking method where garlic, onions, and chili are quickly fried together.



The fourth is milk pudding (kheer). This is an ancient Indian dish that was mentioned in ancient Indian texts over two thousand years ago. Kheer comes from the Sanskrit word for milk. It is made with milk, sugar, and rice, and topped with shredded coconut, saffron, pistachios, raisins, and almonds. view all