Uyghur-style barbecued beef ribs

The Uyghur people in China’s far west are, to my mind, at least, the country’s master barbecuers. 

Like many of the cuisines from Central Asia (and remember, Xinjiang’s capital of Ürümqi is located in the exact center of the Asian landmass!), the Uyghurs cook on open fires, as well as in tandoor-type ovens.

Not only meats go in those tandoors, but also a lovely variety of breads, like this delicious example. 

You can see all those cultural webs in little details like that, which is another reason why I love to read and write about food culture. After all, what we eat and why are really nothing less than the most delicious sides of human history.

The rub ingredients in my mortar

Seasonings here are delicious reflections of this crossroads: Sichuan peppercorns, cumin, garlic, and chile peppers. 

Salt is used instead of soy sauce, and in barbecues like this one here, it makes the spices pop even more.

Uyghurs are almost always Muslim, so beef, goat, or lamb work really well here. 

You can make this hotter or milder, depending upon your tastes and whether you’re planning to feed little children. 

Pounded up & ready to go

If you are one of those unfortunate chile heads with kids, consider making a nice chile sauce like this one for the adults and rely on paprika for the dry rub.

Be sure and use plain ground chiles here, not Mexican chile powder. The flavors are—I admit—insanely similar. But you get to adjust the levels a bit more here by using fresh garlic instead of dried.

I love to make this in my heavy granite mortar, a beautiful bit of useful art I picked up at Rancho Gordo in Napa. 

These kind of things make cooking so much fun. They’re low tech and look seriously gorgeous on the counter. (Plus, the beans at Rancho are the best around.)

Peel off the inner membrane

Uyghur-style barbecued beef ribs

Xīnjiāng tànkăo níulègŭ 新疆炭烤牛肋骨

Xinjiang

Makes 5 to 6 big ribs

About 2½ pounds | a little over 1 kg beef back ribs (do not cut apart)

2 large or 3 small cloves garlic

1 tablespoon ground toasted Sichuan peppercorns

1 tablespoon ground toasted cumin

1 tablespoon coarsely ground chiles (see headnotes)

1 tablespoon coarse sea salt

About 2 tablespoons water

Squoosh in the rub

1. Pat the ribs dry and, again, don’t cut them apart, as that would make them dry out too quickly on the barbecue. Flip the ribs over so that you can see the bones. Use a paring knife and a paper towel to lift up one corner of the membrane covering the inside of the rib cage, and then remove it. Stab the meaty parts of the ribs on both sides all over so that the marinade can penetrate the meat.

2. Place the garlic, spices, and salt in a mortar and pound them together until you no longer can see the garlic. Add just enough water to make a thick paste.

3. Set the ribs in a rimmed dish and rub the marinade all over it, paying special attention to getting it into all of those little holes. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and marinate the ribs for at least a couple of hours and up to a day.

Marinate & then roast

4. Prepare your outdoor grill with the heat at about 250°C | 120°C. Spray the grate with oil and set the ribs meaty-side up. Cover and cook for about 2½ hours, flip, and cook for another half hour or so. Rest the meat for about 10 to 15 minutes, then cut between the bones and serve. Either the local pilaf or grilled breads would be great with this, alongside this delectable cilantro salad. 

Oven directions: Wrap the slab in foil and seal the edges so that the juices can't escape. Place the package in a rimmed pan and roast the ribs in the center of the oven at 250°C | 120°C for 3½ to 4 hours. Place the rack so the top of the ribs will be no closer than 1 inch | 2 cm from the broiling element and set the oven to broil. Open up the foil and then broil the ribs until the fat is golden and the crust crisps up, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the ribs rest for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting between the bones. 

A wonderful bread of the Uyghurs

This is the bread that feeds most of Central Asia, as well as the Chinese far west, northern India, and then out through Afghanistan to the Balkans. 

This has been around for so long that no one knows where it started or who introduced it to whom, but as far as the Chinese are concerned, these definitely are culinary imports, for people who live on the northern plains of China refer to these as 胡餅 húbĭng, or “foreign breads.”

Always round, always rimmed like a pizza, and—at least in the Arid Regions—almost invariably adorned with decorative pricks of a special nail-studded tool, nang vary in size from a few inches across to others that are around 16 inches in diameter. Generally made out of wheat flour, some places prefer corn, and their flavors are given slight variation courtesy of toppings like sesame seed or nigella.

Special nang nail pricker

What makes these breads truly special is their ovens, often referred to around this area as nang pits (nángkēng 饢坑). 

These heavy clay jars look very much like the tandoori ovens of India, with slow-burning fuel at the bottom providing the heat source and the clay walls themselves serving as the cooking surface. Raw rounds of raised dough are slapped onto the interior of a hot oven, and since the dough cooks the instant it touches the clay, the loaves stay perfectly attached while they bake until the cook gently pries them off.

I wish I had a tandoori oven, but as I don’t, I have adapted this simple bread recipe for a regular oven. A large clay pizza tile on the bottom rack of the oven provides a crunch similar to that of the nang pits. Repeated light baths of plain water while the loaves are rising and just before they hit the heat lend a nice texture to the crust. I've used Korean bread flour here, which has just the right amount of gluten to supply that requisite chewiness, but have also thrown in some wheat germ to add more flavor and earthy color.

A wonderful Uyghur custom that you can follow is to welcome your guests with hot tea and a fresh loaf that is torn apart and shared, a token of friendship and a tantalizing taste of the feast that will follow.

Baked round Uyghur bread
Nángbĭng 饢餅 

Hot & chewy

Northwest
Makes 4 small loaves serving 6 to 8

1¼ cups warm filtered water, plus extra for brushing the loaves

1½ teaspoons yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon fresh peanut or toasted sesame oil

1 cup wheat germ

2½ cups (more or less) Korean or Chinese bread flour

2 tablespoons butter, softened

Optional toppings: about 1 teaspoon per loaf of toasted sesame seeds, nigella seeds, fennel seeds, ground black pepper, coarsely ground dried chilies, coarse sea salt, etc.

1. Pour the water into a medium bowl and sprinkle the yeast and sugar over it. Stir the yeast into the water and then give the yeast about 20 minutes to completely foam.

Puffy after second rising

2. Stir in the oil, wheat germ, and about 2 cups of the flour to form a loose dough. Turn the dough out on a floured board and knead it until it is soft and no longer tacky, adding more flour as needed only to keep it from sticking. Form the dough into a smooth ball. Rinse out and dry the bowl, and then rub the inside of the bowl generously with the softened butter. Place the ball of dough back into the bowl and toss it around in there to thoroughly coat it with the butter. Cover the bowl with some plastic wrap and a towel and let it rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour. Remove the towel and plastic and punch the dough down, and then fold the edges onto the top of the dough. Flip the dough over, cover it again with the plastic and towel, and let it rise again until double, about 30 to 45 minutes.

3. Lightly knead the dough and cut it into 4 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball, and then use a rolling pin to roll each piece out on a board lightly dusted with flour to form circles around 7 inches in diameter. Place the circles on lightly dusted baking sheets to rise, and brush each circle with some water. Cover the circles and let them rise for around 30 minutes, or until puffy.

Pat down with your knuckles

4. Place the oven rack at its lowest setting, place your clay tile on the rack, and heat the oven to about 500°F. While the oven is heating up, shape the circles into nang: Wet one hand and lightly pat the inside of each circle, leaving a rim around the edge about 1 inch wide so that you end up with something that looks like a pizza (see photo on right). Use a dough prick or sharp fork to thoroughly perforate the inside of the circles up to the rim. Lightly brush the circles with water and sprinkle on the optional topping. Depending upon the size of your tile, bake one or two of the breads at a time. Use a pizza peel or a rimless baking sheet to slide the dough onto the tile. Bake the breads for about 7 minutes, or until they are a golden brown around the edges. Serve hot or warm.