In my impression, Xinjiang food is heavy on oil and spicy. But after I came to southern Xinjiang, I discovered that this is not the case. Kashgar eats less spicy food than I thought before. Unless otherwise specified, you can hardly eat anything too spicy in restaurants.

thing.

The same goes for barbecue. Most barbecues are only sprinkled with cumin and salt, so now there is no chili powder in Satiniti’s house. On the contrary, I think the non-spicy mutton skewers are more delicious and closer to the traditional original taste. After all, chili peppers were only introduced to China.

After hundreds of years, under Hua Wen's instigation, I grilled two skewers of original flavor, which means the ones with salt, and they tasted really not bad at all.

Everyone encouraged Chen Yan’s barbecue. The mutton skewers were very delicious, probably the best mutton skewers I have ever eaten. Maybe Xiao Sa is right. It has a lot to do with the meat, but who is grilling it?

It doesn't matter much.

In the thick white oil smoke, we happily finished roasting the meat, while Xiao Sa's parents and elderly grandma watched us lively.

When the barbecue was almost done, the battlefield moved to the bunk in the back of the wooden house. The elders sat cross-legged in the back, and we gathered around. Originally, Xiao Sa's father wanted us to sit next to him. This is the seat of honored guests, but in that case I

I felt it was too raw, so I took the initiative to ask everyone to treat us as children.

The hot finger meat is placed on a beautiful plate, and the chopped naan is placed directly on the tablecloth.

Amirdin said that originally, the sheep's head would be served first. When distinguished guests come, the sheep's head would be served first. The eldest person would cut off a little of the sheep's ears to make the children obedient. After that, the guests would cut off the sheep's lips or say

The mutton cheek meat is given to the eldest person of the owner, which represents gratitude and blessing, and then the sheep head is returned to the owner. In this process, the young people will not eat the sheep head. This is more like a ceremony.

Hua Wen said before that we shouldn't be treated like outsiders because we are all juniors and don't have children, so we won't go through this ceremony.

"When this meat is served, pour some salt water on it and sprinkle with raw skin teeth, and then you can eat it with your hands. Now that you are here, you eat it hot, but we are used to eating it cold, because

It’s eaten directly with your hands, so it won’t burn your hands when eaten cold, and secondly, the fat and soup won’t flow everywhere,” said Amirdine.

We didn’t know much about etiquette, but we first toasted the elders of Satiniti’s family with wine, and then we started to eat. We just ate a lot of barbecue, and I thought this meat was very interesting.

It's good in one go. Eating too much meat is not healthy.

Amirdin saw that we all chose lean meat to eat, so he continued: "We only drink when we sit together with our peers. When we eat with our elders, we don't drink when our elders drink. In the past, the meat was either torn into whole pieces."

You can eat it by biting it, or you can use a small knife to cut it into small pieces. The best thing to eat is the oily meat. We all like to eat fat meat, and now we know that we should be healthier.

I ate a little less fat meat. There is still salt in this bowl, so I don’t think it’s salty so I dipped it in salt.”

Hua Wen told me to respect other people's habits. I looked at a few pieces of white fat and decided to give it a try. I cut a small piece with a knife and tasted it. In fact, it tasted very good, not greasy at all, and had a special kind of meat.

It was fragrant and had no smell at all, and Hua Wen took the lean meat and ate it in small bites.

"The soil here is highly alkaline, so mutton is alkaline. It's not smelly or sour, and it's very delicious. This finger meat is cooked directly without adding anything for sprinkling, and the blood foam is skimmed off when cooking.

, it’s delicious without any seasoning!” Amirdin continued.

"Thank you! We heard that slaughtering sheep and cooking finger meat is already the best food for entertaining guests. We are very honored that you treat me as your best friend. I will come often in the future. I can't do this every time. We are considered a family

You have a baby, your sheep have to be sold for money, don’t slaughter the sheep next time, just like usual we will be very happy!" I said.

Nowadays, a live sheep here costs about a thousand yuan. It depends on the weight and age of the sheep. One kilogram of mutton in the market costs more than 60 yuan. It would be embarrassing if we slaughtered the sheep just once. Cooked hand-caught

Meat or barbecue costs about 90 yuan per kilogram. Today, the Satiniti family really treats us as distinguished guests.

"Brother Li! You are welcome, and don't think you are here as a guest. Just treat this place as your home. You and Sister Wenwen are our most distinguished guests. In your words, we are destined to sit together.

, a sheep is nothing, you can eat it every day, it is rare for guests to come to our house, everyone is very happy, even happier than the Chinese New Year." said Satiniti.

In a lively atmosphere, everyone ended this sumptuous dinner. According to custom, men do not have to clean up the dishes and chopsticks. Because Aimeerdine had to work the night shift, he left without staying long, and Chen Yan called me

We went to his yurt with Hua Wen. As soon as we sat down, Satiniti came in with some hand-picked meat and roasted mutton skewers. She used a shovel to shovel the red charcoal in the barbecue tank and the stove from the outside and put it in.

The small cast iron stove quickly heated up the yurt.

Chen Yan gave me a cigarette, lit it and said: "The elders were here just now. Young people can't smoke and drink. Just say it when you toast. Now that the elders are not around, let's drink for a while!" After that, he said again

I took out half a bottle of liquor and two cans of beer.

"Hua Wen, you and Satiniti are free to drink whatever you want. Lao Li, do you drink white or beer?" Chen Yan asked me.

"I can't get used to drinking beer or liquor. It's easy to get drunk after a small cup. But I have to say first that I don't drink well, so you are not allowed to persuade me to drink." I replied.

"We are all our own people. We smoke and drink just to have fun. You can do whatever you want!" Chen Yan said with a bit of machismo.

"I drink beer. I don't usually drink, but I'm happy today and drink some beer!" Hua Wen said while taking a can of beer.

"We Kazakh women are not allowed to drink, especially when there are guests, but today Brother Ayan and I will drink some liquor together, and I will drink with him!" Satiniti said to us, she also seemed to be a bold and unrestrained person.

woman.

I opened a can of beer, which was canned Wusu, and took a sip. It was cold and sweet, with a stronger bitter taste. I said, "It's really cold. It's naturally cold. Is it okay to eat so much meat just now?"

Will all the oil be greasy in your stomach?"

"Brother Li, drink less for now. The room was cold just now and the wine was cold too. It will be better when it gets warmer later. I'll make some tea for you first. Brick tea will relieve greasiness!" Satiniti answered my question.

"I heard a saying that when drinking in Xinjiang, you should drink Yilite, and when marrying, you should marry a Kazakh! Is it true? Why?" I asked.

I plan to help Chen Yan, although it seems that he no longer needs my help. I think of Mire saying that intermarriage between different ethnic groups is still very difficult, whether it is marrying or marrying.

Satiniti replied with a smile: "I heard that there is a saying in Ili because Kazakh youths are handsome, strong, and good-tempered. Because they have been nomadic for generations, they do not have the treachery and stinginess of men in the city. Our characters are straightforward.

Savage, smart but not stingy, principled but very humble. Even though most of us live in the grasslands, our education level is very high. Take my parents and grandma as an example. They both know how to read, but it’s only in Kazakh script.

Because we have always known that we have to send our children to school."

"Oh, Satiniti, what kind of person should your ideal marriage partner be?" I took the opportunity to ask.

"It's hard to say, but you must be hardworking and filial to your parents. Our tradition is to respect our elders in a special way. Even if we sit at home, we have to pay attention to where we sit. We can't sit in the wrong place. When we eat, we respect the elders first and the younger ones eat last.

Then we must not be too distracted. We are particularly particular about monogamy and lifelong marriage. There are almost no divorced people in our nation."

Satiniti did not give specific requirements, but first talked about two traditions. I guess Chen Yan can do this by respecting his elders, but it is a bit difficult not to be bothered.

"Do you have any requirements for betrothal gifts or dowry?" Hua Wen asked curiously.

"Yes, it's traditional, and it's quite heavy. Because we are nomadic people, the man has to give a certain amount of bride price, most of which are gifts rather than money. So there were many people who couldn't afford to get married in the past, and we also

Pay attention to being well-matched, so that the man’s betrothal gift will be less. In addition to the betrothal gift, the man’s family also needs to send clothes or fabrics to the relatives of the woman’s family. When a child is born, gifts must be given to the woman’s family. The good thing is that the woman’s family

We will also prepare dowries, such as houses, cattle, sheep, horses, clothing materials, etc." said Satiniti.

"It doesn't feel like much, but why is the burden still heavy?" Hua Wen asked next.

"In the past, people were poor, and there was nothing decent in their homes except shabby yurts. Both the man and the woman had to save up for betrothal gifts and dowry. They started preparing for it when the children were young. When they got married, the parents of both parties sat together to discuss it.

When it comes to the amount of betrothal gifts and dowries, sometimes relatives help to collect them. But that was in the past, and things are better now. The economic conditions are better, and there is not so much emphasis on the traditional betrothal gifts and dowries.

It’s not much money. Because we don’t pay attention to giving money or gold and silver. All we want are the things we need to live our lives.” After finishing speaking, Satiniti picked up the wine bowl, touched it with Chen Yan, and drank it in one gulp.

"I heard that you girls especially like masculine men, especially those who can drink and sing!" I said.

Indeed, when I was in college, I heard a Mongolian classmate of mine say that the primary criterion for a man to drink on the grasslands is.

"Who said that? That's not the case. We didn't drink before, at least the herdsmen didn't drink. There is no liquor like liquor except homemade kumis on the grassland. Kumis is a semi-fermented dairy product and should have no alcohol or content.

Very little, and I didn’t know that mare’s kumiss could make you drunk. The later liquor was distilled liquor made by the Mongolian people in wooden barrels, and we learned how to make liquor. The alcohol content was difficult to control, and it was very easy to get drunk.

But because the output is low, we usually don’t have time to make wine, and we don’t drink much. After liberation and the living conditions improved, some young people started to buy wine.” While talking, Satiniti drank with Chen Yan again.
Chapter completed!