And there she was, holding a snake

In Shanghai there is a former coworker from Mobile.  Recently, he invited me out to dinner, at one of his favorite XinJiang province restaurants.

XinJiang is a province in the North West of China.  It is characterized it Muslim population.  Here the people tend to be more influenced by the Middle East and South East Asian cultures.  Places like Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, etc.  There are two reason for this, one geographic proximity.  Two, these people are the descendants of the merchants and traders on the Silk Road.  They are people who's culture has been influenced by a vast number of cultures.

XinJiang food is extremely popular in Shanghai.  There are a ton of restos that serve it, and all of them are packed.  Honestly, it is easy to understand why.  Unlike most Chinese food, XinJiang
food is centered around lamb.  No pork at these Halal places, although, most if not all will serve shrimp.  Strange right?  The spices used in Xinjiang food are also very addictive.  It is a mix of dry spiciness from chili peppers, cumin, garlic, and turmeric.

 

After finding the restaurant (we got lost, seems like I can pass on my bad luck), we settled in for our meal:



Yummy yummy



There are roasted lamb chops served with a soy style sauce and the aforementioned spice blend for dipping.

The noodles are hot and sour fern root noodles.  These have a very jelly like texture.  They were served in a super spicy sauce that had pieces of bird chilies.

Also, there are two mystery vegetables.  The white with purple was awesome.  Big chunks of ginger and a great balance between sweet, spicy, and savory.

The food was awesome.  I don't even like lamb, and I ate it because it was that good.

Well, as if the food isn't enough, this restaurant provides entertainment.  There were several times that loud music interrupted our dinner.  By the third time, we were ignoring the act all together.  The it happened... A lady in a traditional costume showed up, holding a snake, and tried to put it around my friend's neck.  A real snake, hissing and all.  People either loved it or hated it. 

Unfortunately, I don't have very good photos as I was not prepared when the snake popped in for dinner, but here are a few from afar.

Only in China!