Chuanr

wikipedia: a food lover's paradise.

In this entry, I will talk about a recent chuanrty.
What is a chuanrty? chuanr (meat on sticks) + party. Not my invention, but Evan's. There's actually an entry in wikipedia for chuanr, but I'm still offended by the Chinese characters and will just provide the general entry for Chinese Islamic food here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Islamic_cuisine

I went to Xinjiang, the muslim region of China last summer (summer 05) and remember eating many yang rou chuanr (bbq lamb skewers) and nang (round unleavened bread, covered with hot roasted sesame seeds). So it was much to my surprise that Evan is crazy about the chuanrs from his experience in China. He actually figured out the whole process. Without a picture, I shall do my best to describe it.

First, you have to put a huge open top metallic box (without top or bottom) on a bbq grill. Then you fill the box with coal and light it. After you get a decent amount of fire going, you can start to put the meat skewers on the box, adding spices and fanning the flame as you go. I also saw them sprinkle sesame oil on the meat, which probably made it tender and juicy. The secret ingredient must be the red hot cayenne pepper powder I saw that was sprinkled generously onto the chuanrs. Spicy? Yes! Amazing? Of course!

Lamb and chicken were used this time, although I imagine beef would work just as well. Beef doesn't take too long to cook, which is also a plus, I'm sure.

Can't say if any restaurant nearby would have this exotic culinary wonder, but if you visit China, you'll be sure to see this street side food.