All in the Family

As the early afternoon wore on, a few of our bellies began to grumble and we made our way to the far end of the bazaar where a row of outdoor restaurants sidled next to one another. Each one was selling more or less the same thing: lamb with noodles. We chose a place within sight of a local ice-cream maker (the kind that rely on a wooden barrel and an external motor to stir the cream with ice and sugar) and a butcher stand. The tables and benches were rickety, and the bowls in which we were served still had crusty bits of food from the previous diners, but we were hungry and willing to take our chances.

As near as we could tell, a single Uighur family operated this stall. There were two grown men and three children. The two men tended mostly to the noodles and the lamb soup. The oldest child, a girl perhaps 10 or 12 years old, prepared all the vegetables. The youngest child, a boy of about 6 or 7 years of age, washed the dishes (hence the bits of leftover grunge on the bowls). The middle child appeared to have the most variety in his duties, popping between the two men to learn by mimicry. In these photos, you can see the middle child making Xinjiang-style noodles, where the noodle dough is rolled into a ball, pulled apart, and then whipped about in a mostly graceful manner that stretches the dough into long tendrils. That dirty brick structure to the left of the noodle kid is their stove. Set into the stove is a largish wok with a lid, beneath which simmers a starchy broth. Once the kid finishes with the noodles, they are tossed into the steaming broth to cook, then moved to the standing bowl of liquid adjacent to the stove to stop the cooking process before serving the noodles to customers. After combining with lamb and vegetables, it made for a cheap yet filling and tasty meal, dirty dishes notwithstanding. The photo with the two bowls and the ballcap-bedecked boy is the dishwashing station. Unsurprisingly, they don't have running water to flush out the wash basins. It should be noted that none of us took ill as a result of this meal, believe it or not.