Which Dungan dish do you like better: ash lan fin or lamian? Chances are you’ve never heard of either, mainly because the items are staples of Dungan cuisine — which I’m betting you’ve also never heard of. After all, how many restaurants in America feature the foods of Chinese Muslims who left their homeland in western China around the turn of twentieth century and settled in neighboring Kazakhstan (aka the Dungan people)?
The ingredients found in Dungan preparations — things like tripe (stomach) and bean jelly might prompt one to describe the cuisine as “exotic.” But to do so, according to Washington Post food critic G. Daniela Galarza, is to show your xenophobia.
