Different ethnic groups in Xinjiang get different cooking and eating ways. According to the local survey, Uygur food dominates the city of Kashgar. The food is characterized by mutton, beef, chicken, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, onions and other dairy foods. Many Uygur dishes are influenced by other ethnic groups in Xinjiang and central Asia both, and popular local dishes are welcome by local residents and travelers as well.

There are plenty of good local restaurants,food stalls and street food. For a variety of snacks and dishes, try the food stalls opposite to the Id Kah mosque, which start operating during the evening. 
In the Sunday market  there are also many good things to eat.

It may bewise to avoid anything with ice as the ice in Kashgar is usually carried inlarge blocks and frequently placed on the ground so they may not be clean.During the summer months there are huge heaps of melons and water melons ,which are cheap, tasty and refreshing. Buying, washing, and cutting it yourself is probably the most hygenic way to eat these fabulous tasty fruits. Pomegranate juice is very cool and tasteful as well, which is made by practical hand squeezer.

 

Roasted lamb: The roasted whole lamb is the"king" of Xinjiang cuisine and the highlight of meals. The roasted whole lamb, with crisp skin and soft meat, is extremely delicious and fragrant,which looks golden and bright in color.

Shish Kebob: The sliced muttonis roasted above a grilling with refined salt, chili powder, and cumin power. After the skewers are continuously turned in a few minutes, the delicious meat will be ready.

Pigeon meat soup: People in Xinjiang are fond of pigeons. You can see a lot of pigeons in the old city of Kashgar, so there are a lot of people in Xinjiang who eat pigeons.The saying says that one pigeon is even more nutritious than nine chickens, which shows that pigeons are the ginseng among the flesh. The meat pigeons in Xinjiang grow up by eating whole grains and flying into the blue sky. Any recipe is tender and delicious.The more famous ones are pigeon soup and roasted pigeons.

Flour-Filled Lungs and Rice-Filled Sausages: These are traditional snacks of the Uyghurs,using sheep's internal organs as raw materials. Since the materials are uncommon and the cooking is time-consuming, this dish is a rare delicacy and seldom seen in hotels.

Cooked mutton wrapped by lamb tripe: It is a special dish in Xinjiang,which is cooked with marinated mutton wrapped in sheep tripe. Lamb tripe is a natural cooking vessel. Fill it with the marinated mutton and seal it. Then cook it. The mutton marinated in seasonings is put into it . It's not leaky, and it's flexible enough.The mutton wrapped inside is tender and delicious because it absorbs a lot of soup.

Naan(Nang): Nang is the most popular and staple food for the Uyghurs, Kazaks, and Tajiks. Nang can be preserved very long time. For an ordinary family, baking nangs is an indispensable job of life.

Baked samosa (baked bun): Baked buns (samosas in Uygur) is one of favorite foods of ethnic groups in Xinjiang. Making baked baozi need fresh mutton. Baking baozi is mainly baked in the nang pit. Roll the steamed stuffed bun with dough and fold the sides into a square. The filling is made of diced lamb meat, diced lamb tail oil, onion, cumin powder, refined salt and pepper powder, and mixed with a little water. The best choice is mutton meat from the leg with even fat and lean. Only choosing lean is not suitable for filling because it does not tastes so well. Stick the wrapped raw buns in the naan pit, and about ten minutes the buns can be baked,which looks yellow and tastes crispy, tender, fresh and fragrante.

Fruits:

Grape and melon: They are good choice. There are more than 50 varieties of grapes with different tastes.The grape season comes in August and September. Fresh grapes are dried or canned. The local fruit farmers invented a special way to preserve fresh grapes for winter. Therefore fresh grapes are throughout the whole year.

Pomegranates and figs : They can be special local fruits in Kashgar. Pomegranates are sweet and nutritious. Accordingto the record the seeds were brought by Zhang Qian who was called the pioneer of the silk road and went to the Western Regions twice in the Han Dynasty. Figs are thin-skinned, sweet and tasty and with high medical value. Besides, their large leaves are smooth and the crown is neat and graceful. So they are often used for decorating the rooms ,and sometimes they are planted in the garden or made into bonsai.

Apricots,flat peaches and mulberry: They have gained fame far and wide. The apricots from Yengisar and Yecheng are of the best quality. Besides for the juicy and refreshing apricots, there are also dried apricots. The flat Peaches are the most unique of the peach varieties. They look same from leaves and flowers as ordinary peaches but different in shape and flavor.It has a long history of growing mulberry. They have gained a reputation as"Primula Malacoides". There are white and black mulberries and they can be eaten as a sweet fruit or used as medicine. Moreover, locals also use mulberry to make mulberry syrup, jams or wine.

Warning and Tip for Food:

Hui and Uyghur food can be very spicy. If you do not like spicy food too much you may tell them "bú yào là de" (non spicy) in Chinese or in Uyghurs "kizil mooch salmang".