Cup Lamb Stew

Cup lamb stew is Kashgar's distinctive clear-broth mutton: bone-in lamb pieces with carrot, onion and chickpea are placed in a large enamel mug, covered with water and a little salt, and simmered over a low charcoal flame for hours. The broth runs clear and faintly golden, the meat falls off the bone, and every flavour is its own—an essence of the Xinjiang clear lamb stew.

Cup lamb stew uses lamb grazing on the pastures around Kashgar, cooked in the plainest way to keep the meat's own fragrance. The enamel mug serves as both pot and bowl, and the cup-stew stalls on the lanes are the most heart-warming sight of a Kashgar winter.

Served mug and all, meat and broth together, scattered with coriander or scallion, it is eaten with a piece of naan torn and dipped into the soup—the meat tender, the broth deep, the bread soaking up the juices, the most homely way Kashgar warms itself.

The humble enamel-mug vessel, the stripped-down clear-broth seasoning and the natural fragrance of local lamb are the irreplaceable marks of cup lamb stew.