Stuffed Lung and Rice Sausage (Mianfeizi)

Mianfeizi and michangzi are a traditional Uyghur snack: a washed sheep's lung is filled with a wheat-starch paste, while sheep's intestine is stuffed with glutinous rice, diced lamb and onion; each is boiled and cut into pieces, dressed with a vinegar-garlic-chilli sauce, the lung soft and the sausage chewy, each setting off the other.

This clever pairing of sheep offal with grain is found in the Uyghur areas of Xinjiang, showing the nomadic peoples' thrift with every part of the animal; it is an everyday street food in Yining and Kashgar, but uncommon beyond Xinjiang.

Usually sold freshly cut at street stalls and dressed with vinegar, garlic water and chilli oil, it is eaten with nang or yoghurt, a bowl Yining locals crave at morning and night markets; newcomers are often daunted by its looks, then won over by its sharp, savoury heat.

The contrast of soft lung and springy rice sausage, and the appetite-sharpening sour-spicy dressing, are what make this offal snack singular.