Chuan'r LED sign hanging in front of Beijing shop

Chuan (, dng, Чўан, Pinyin: chuàn, "''kebab''"; , кавап, "''kawap''"), especially in the north-east of China referred to as chuan'r (), are small pieces of

meat Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...

roasted on skewers. Chuan originated in the Xinjiang region of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. It has been spread throughout the rest of the country, most notably in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, Tianjin,

Jinan Jinan (), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Tsinan, is the Capital (political), capital of Shandong province in East China, Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is the second-largest city i ...

and Jilin, where it is a popular street food. It is a product of the Chinese Islamic cuisine of the

Uyghur people The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia, Central and East As ...

and other Chinese Muslims.

Overview

Chuan are small pieces of

roasted on skewers over charcoal or sometimes, electric heat. It is also sometimes cooked by deep frying in oil (popular in Beijing). It can be classified as a type of

kebab Kebab (, ; ar, كباب, link=no, Latn, ar, kabāb, ; tr, kebap, link=no, ) or kabob (North American) is a type of cooked meat dish (food), dish that originates from Middle Eastern cuisine, cuisines of the Middle East. Many variants of the ...

. Chuan was traditionally made from

lamb Lamb or The Lamb may refer to: * A young sheep * Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep Arts and media Film, television, and theatre * ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut * ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...

(''yáng ròu chuàn'', 羊肉串, lamb meat chuan), which is still the most common kind, but now,

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domestication, domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey junglefowl, grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster ...

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved ...

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quant ...

and various types of seafood can also be used. Especially in tourist areas, chuan can be found made with various insects, bugs, birds and other exotic animals. In general, chuan may be spiced according to preference, but generally

cumin Cumin ( or , or Article title
) (''Cuminum cyminum'') is a

red pepper flakes,

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quanti ...

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in di ...

and

sesame Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering plant in the genus '' Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is c ...

sesame oil Sesame oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from sesame seeds. The oil is one of the earliest-known crop-based oils. Worldwide mass modern production is limited due to the inefficient manual harvesting process required to extract the oil. O ...

are sprinkled or brushed onto it. Another popular incarnation is '' mantou chuan'' or "steamed bun chuan"; it is commonly brushed with a sweet bean sauce (甜面酱, not to be confused with sweet red bean paste) and its taste serves as a foil to the often spicy meat chuan. In Tianjin and Jinan, chuan is often served with small round breads (馅饼, ''xiàn bǐng''), also grilled with the same spices. ''Xiàn bǐng'' technically means "pie" or "filled bread". After cooking the bread and meat, the bread is split open and chuan meat is stuffed inside, then eaten together. File:Barbecued lamb sticks.jpg, Barbecued chuan lamb sticks File:Yang rou chuan.webm, Lamb skewers on automatic rotating grill, at a Chinese restaurant in Seoul, Korea

Controversy

In 2013, it was reported that the Beijing authorities were destroying open-air chuan barbecues in a bid to reduce pollution from small particles that can enter deep into the lungs. Hundreds of barbecues were reportedly confiscated over a three-month period, leading to ridicule from the local Beijing population.

References

{{Barbecue Grilled skewers Skewered kebabs Chinese Islamic cuisine

Overview

Controversy

See also

References