The Uyghur kawap of Xinjiang: small lamb cubes interleaved with fat, grilled fast over charcoal and showered with cumin, chili flakes, and salt while still on the fire. Carried east by Uyghur vendors, it became China's ubiquitous street 'chuanr'.
Also known as: kawap, kawaplar, Xinjiang lamb skewers, chuanr, yangrou chuan, 羊肉串, Uyghur kebab
Watch it made
Ingredients
- 600 g lamb shoulder or leg, in 2 cm pieces
- 150 g lamb tail fat, in thin squares
- 1 small onion, blitzed with 100 ml water
- 1.5 tbsp cumin, coarsely ground
- 2 tsp coarse chili flakes
- 1.5 tsp salt
- Flat metal skewers
- Fresh naan, to serve
How to make it
- 1
Soak the lamb in the onion water 30 minutes, then drain and pat dry; the onion tenderizes without announcing itself.
- 2
Thread four lean pieces and one square of fat per skewer, fat in the middle.
- 3
Lay the skewers close over hot charcoal and flip every 30 seconds so juices keep circling rather than dripping out.
- 4
When the meat starts to sweat and shine, shower on the cumin, chili and salt, and keep flipping 1 more minute so the spices toast onto the rendering fat.
- 5
Serve a fistful of skewers per person with warm naan.
Pro tip: The spice goes on mid-grill, never at the start: cumin dropped on raw meat incinerates to ash before the lamb cooks, but landing on hot fat it blooms into the perfume that fills every Xinjiang night market.
