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Food-truck selection hardly meager, not when we can dine Uyghur
By adamg on Thu, 04/17/2014 - 5:42pm
Boston is about to get what could be the nation's first Uyghur food truck:
Although the truck won't have an onboard noodle maker turning out plates of lagman, the truck -- which is scheduled to hit the streets in the coming days -- will be serving Uyghur style kebabs, sold on skewers or inside wraps.
More on Uyghur Kitchen and Uyghur food.
Via Eater Boston.
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Comments
Cool, but there has been a Uyghur BBQ Cart in Flushing for years
The Xinjiang BBQ Cart of Flushing is the only Uyghur-ish food I know of. See: http://www.manicamerican.com/?p=937
I've read that real Uyghur BBQ is actually cooked over coal (as in, bituminous) rather than charcoal. Could you imagine cooking in Downtown Boston with lumps of coal?
I am really looking forward to trying Uyghur Kitchen.
Wow BBQ
The Wow BBQ truck (parked in Chinatown or South End) has been selling these Uighur/Xinjiang style skewers for at least a year now. They are rather good! You can also get them at One Of The Kind in the Allston Super 88 food court.
As far as letting street vendors adopt the use of coal stoves, I'll take my clean air over China's, thanks.
That's "lamb shashlik"
Or however you spell it. Good stuff. Did not realize that it was Uighur.
"Shashlik" is just a kebab as
"Shashlik" is just a kebab as far as I know. This preparation specifically is the tiny-cut, cumin-flavored kind with optional spicy powder to add on.
I don't think shashlik is
I don't think shashlik is specifically Uyghur. It's all over the place in Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. I've read and heard that it originally comes from the Caucasus, but I don't think there's anything definitive out there.
The real shame is that they aren't doing lagman -- that would really distinguish the food truck in a way that doing kebabs won't.
Off-topic
But when I read this my first thought was how much I'd love a place to get Georgian food in Boston. I loved satsivi when I lived in Moscow, and that salad with the ham and red peppers and cheese, and the bread with the egg and cheese in the middle of it. YUM.
Georgian food in NYC
I love Georgian food! The closest place to Boston that I know of to get Georgian food is in NYC. There are actually two restaurants that opened relatively recently (in the past couple years) in Manhattan. I just ate at one this week called Pepela (sp?). Adjarian khachapuri wasn't on the menu, but you could order it off menu. (That's the bread with the egg).
You learn something every day
I gotta say, this is the first time I've heard people praise Russian food. ;-)
I've never had it, but I'm always game to try something new.
Georgian food is NOT....
... Russian food. But, yes, there is good Russian food. (Note: Some Russian restaurants may sometimes serve some Georgian specialties that Russians happen to like).
Lagman!
Agreed. Wikipedia confirms that kebabs are a Uyghur food, but I never realized that. Seemed more Eastern Europe/Central Asian/everywhere in the world cooks meat on sticks. Lagman is where it's at. Fried lagman is even better.
Best Uyghur food I've seen in the States is atCafe Kaskkar in Brighton Beach.
Coal versus Charcoal
There really isn't that much difference. They are both burning solid fuel in an uncontrolled appliance. The major difference comes from the higher sulfur content of coal versus charcoal, and other nasty side stuff like mercury and cadmium.
There are more major differences between types of coal being burned - US coal tends to be lower in sulfur than, say, the "barely past the peat" brown coals of Eastern Europe. Coal from the western reserves (Wyoming vs Appalachia) is even lower in sulfur, but can be difficult to light in non-industrial use.
Moksa had a Uyghur style lamb dish on its menu
back in its very early days when Patricia Yeo was still the chef. It was really good. The wheels came off that place pretty quickly, I'm afraid, and Yeo is no longer a fine dining chef.
Will have to check that place
Will have to check that place out the next time I'm in Flushing. Thanks for the tip.
2 cents
I would be pretty pissed off if I owned a restaurant in the Copley area with high rents, cost of everyday business etc... And some food truck pulled up on the sidewalk and started doing doing business... Most likely the owner of the truck is not even a Boston resident, like most..
yawn......
yawn......
I can tell that you don't own a restaurant
Because you haven't any clue about how business or economics works.
Here's a hint: areas with lots of restaurants do not suffer from "scarcity of customers" as you seem to think. Customers are not a zero-sum resource.
If your theory was true then all those restaurants bunched up in the North End, Back Bay, Allston, etc. would all be screwing each other over. But that's obviously not the case. Those are all thriving districts with lots of restaurants. There are benefits to being geographically close to similar businesses.
Customers go to the places where they will find good food options and entrepreneurs try to open their establishments in those locations where they know the customers are already looking. Always been that way, always will be.
Presumably, you're offering value that the truck is not
Presumably, you're offering value that the truck is not: your'e always there, you have sit-down dining, etc. If you aren't offering value beyond what the truck offers, then there's no real reason for you to be in business.
I agree. People either want
I agree. People either want to grab from a truck and go sit somewhere else, or go to a restaurant and sit down.
Manhattan seems to balance street-meat and B&M restaurant options well, with good places doing well no matter what.
This is America, welcome!
<strong><em>Double yawn!</em></strong>
Sounds like you've been listening to Dave Andelman
and his anti-food-truck propaganda. He's full of shit, of course, trying to justify the Beacon Hill lobbying fees he collects from a bunch of restaurants that expect more from their sponsorship graft than just a transparent whoring plug on his TV show.
Food trucks can't just "pull up on the sidewalk" and operate anywhere. Their operations are tightly regulated by the city, restricted to a handful of locations and operating hours. Dozens of food trucks have been operating this way in town for a few years since Menino realized that every other major city in the country has a thriving food truck culture; he eliminated the old red tape involved in setting one up, and set aside some public space for them to operate, like a chunk of the Greenway.
Food trucks serve as incubators to test new concepts (many trucks have gone B&M, like Clover, Mei Mei, Pennypacker's, Bon Me, and Roxy's); They're also another nice option for consumers, and the competition doesn't cripple brick-and-mortars, which have many advantages of their own over food trucks.
Are you actually suggesting that Boston restaurants should have an owner residency requirement? That's idiotic: it would close most places in town. But as it happens, the owner of this truck is a resident, a Berklee student.
Wow
Anon got served. (pun intended)
Let's not forget...
The fact that for 4-5mos of the year, traditional restaurants have a HUGE advantage over food trucks. Not many people want to stand outside in 3" of snow and 18degree weather to get lunch.
Your entitlement is showing...
It's called the food industry business. If someone can't handle it, don't get involved. People with money are ridiculous. So entitled.
Pronunciation
When I explain something like this to others, one of the things I do is tell people how to pronounce it:
"Wee-ghar"
But they created a nice website and then left out that somewhat important detail.
You're welcome.
Dang! And I was gearing up to sing,
Dang! And I was gearing up to sing,
"Uyghur-chucka, Uyghur, Uyghur
Uyghur-chucka, Uyghur, Uyghur"
Glad
...and we're all glad that you did not.
Iiiiiiiiiiiiii, i'm hooked on a feelin' ~
I can't stop this feeling...deep inside of me... "Uyghur-chucka, Uyghur, Uyghur
Uyghur-chucka, Uyghur, Uyghur" Girl ya got me itchin for another glass of wine (I didn't look up the lyrics...sorry if they're wrong, but that's how i remember it.) LOL
No, it's more like "OoyGHOOR"
No, it's more like "OoyGHOOR".
Hmmm..
The news organizations that I am aware of, who check into this stuff ahead of time, say "wee-ghar". My Chinese co-workers say something similar, though the "wee" sound seems to be a bit uncharacteristic of the Mandarin and it's a bit different coming from them.
Pronunciation
"Wee-ger" is the accepted English pronunciation, and isn't *too* far off from correct, but apparently but the pronunciation "ooygOOr" (closer to three syllables than two, for one thing) is closer to what Uyghurs actually call themselves. When the food truck gets up and running you can ask the proprietor - he's Uyghur himself.
Fine with me.
Fine with me. In any case, even is "Wee-gar" if a bit off from how the natives say it, it's still a lot closer than some other possibilities that an American could come up with.
weeee-gar!
Thank you Zunk!! I couldn't figure it out!
Which means it rhymes with meager
For a headline so typically clëver.