March 4, 2015 In All recipes, Meat, Noodle/Pasta/Rice, updated recipe

MY XIAN FAMOUS SPICY CUMIN LAMB HAND-SMASHED NOODLES

[ezcol_1half] ONCE YOU GET THERE, WHATEVER IT TAKES FOR YOU TO GET THERE, THE REST IS AS EASY AS BIANG [/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end] Does this recipe really need introduction?  If you have been enjoying, following, or even just been seduced from afar by the unstoppable uprise of this basement-stall to now 10 flourishing locations throughout New York, you would not be unfamiliar with the signature dish, from Xian Famous Foods.  The spicy cumin lamb hand-ripped (biang biang) noodles. I have certainly been a fan.  More precisely, I have been enjoy Xian Famous Foods for the past few years, without actually stepping a foot inside any of their 10 locations.  Because I've been here, in Beijing, where "Xian famous foods" are not known as the name of a trending chain-restaurants, but in fact, a genre.  Those 4 Chinese characters almost recognized as their "logo", are actually common here as a phrase that describes the local street foods of the city Xi-An.  Kind of like having a restaurant called "Texas BBQ", or "Chicago Hotdogs".  And on top of the usual suspects of cold skin noodles, cumin lamb burger (called "rou-jia-mo"), lamb offal soup

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October 23, 2014 In All recipes, Meat

CUMIN SPARE RIBS

[ezcol_1half] DON'T GIVE ME THE BULLSHIT, IN THE END, DO I TASTE FREAKING-ABSOLUTELY AWESOME? [/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]  [/ezcol_1half_end][ezcol_1half] To be honest, I don't think I have ever truly enjoyed BBQ ribs.  It has always been, to me at least, more enjoyable as an idea - the smile of the pit-master, the black smoker hissing under the Southern sun, the sense of all American lifestyle - than in actuality.  In actuality, I've been waiting my whole life so far, to be impressed, turned, proven wrong, by something that I so desperately would like to grow more fond of.  But in the end, picking at a pile of ribs that are often borderline dry and overly sweet, I always ended up wondering if I have missed something. This isn't to say, the rib's problem.  In fact, any form of scanty meats adhering to a disproportionate amount of bones, that requires bare hands and  sheer fangs to tear down, I'm there.  In fact, the rib-hole that had been ironically left hollow in my long years spent in holy BBQ-land, was immediately filled and nurtured within a month after I moved here, by the most unlikely of all cuisines.  A Northern Chinese creation called, cumin spare ribs.  Typically you wouldn't think the word "mild" is

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July 1, 2014 In All recipes, Meat, Vegatables

OLD BEIJING LAMB SKEWER

[ezcol_3quarter][/ezcol_3quarter][ezcol_1quarter_end] THERE are many virtues about Beijing, and as far as I'm concerned, they are all true.  The widely studied, highly evolved lung-capacity of its residence to withstand extremely volatile air molecules is among the most celebrated.  The profound unity and rewardless participation in the national sport of competitive spitting, for god and country, is none but true patriotism.  Then, perhaps the most famous although not as extraordinary as the former points, that it's true, these fine citizens do know how to roast a damn duck. Like actually actually. But the most extraordinary things are those that go unadvertised.  The best-kept secret, the silent do-er in this fine metropolis is tucked away in every unknown streets and corners, and I mean every streets and corners.  It's the most note-worthy and representative of Beijing street-food scene, and as far as I'm concerned, it is this word - 串. [/ezcol_1quarter_end] [ezcol_1quarter][/ezcol_1quarter][ezcol_1quarter][/ezcol_1quarter] [ezcol_1quarter][/ezcol_1quarter][ezcol_1quarter_end][/ezcol_1quarter_end] [ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half][ezcol_1quarter] It's the most brilliant, most comprehensible character ever invented.  It looks exactly what it means - skewers. Mostly, lamb skewers. " 串 " Everyone loves this stuff, and for a good reason.  This is after all, the kingdom of the north, and they are not "meeeh~" about their lambs.  Infiltrated into every nooks and crannies of the city, there are casual restaurants called "skewer

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