This recipe is taken from Maggie Zhu of Omnivore’s Cookbook, a recipe developer born and raised in Beijing who now writes about regional Chinese cooking full-time. Her Xinjiang Lamb Skewers (新疆烤串, chuar) recipe on omnivorescookbook.com is built specifically to recreate “exactly the way that Chinese street vendors do” it, down to the shape of the grill they use.
Xinjiang Origins, “Old Beijing” Branding
Zhu is explicit about where the dish comes from, and where the popular nickname comes from: the skewers are now often sold in Beijing as “old Beijing skewers,” but, she writes, “the food originated in Xinjiang, the largest Chinese administrative division, where the majority of people are ethnically Uighur and religiously Muslim.” She also credits the marinating step specifically to Uyghur vendors: “marinating is the key to creating the best lamb kebabs, according to Uyghur vendors.” So while the dish is now a familiar street food across northern Chinese cities, Zhu’s own source material attributes both the dish and its technique to Xinjiang’s Uyghur cooking tradition, with the “Beijing” label describing where it later became popular rather than where it began.
Choosing the Cut
Zhu gives two options. The street-vendor method uses a lean cut of lamb with small chunks of lamb fat threaded in separately — she suggests trimming a fat cap from lamb leg meat, or asking a butcher for trimmings, since American supermarkets tend to trim lamb leaner than what’s typical in China. The alternative is a well-marbled cut like country-style lamb ribs, deboned and diced, which costs more but needs less separate fat. Either way, the recipe’s ingredient list calls for lamb with roughly a 7:3 lean-to-fat ratio. She notes the same marinade and method also work with beef, recommending boneless short ribs as a substitute for guests who don’t eat lamb.
The Marinade and Spicing
The marinade combines 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons light soy sauce, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 2 teaspoons cumin powder, ½ teaspoon chili powder, ½ teaspoon salt, and an optional ¼ teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn powder, massaged into 1-lb of cubed lamb (cut into roughly ½-inch pieces) layered with sliced onion in a sealed bag for at least 30 minutes, or overnight in the fridge. Zhu emphasizes that seasoning doesn’t stop at the marinade: extra cumin powder, and optionally whole cumin seeds and chili powder, get sprinkled directly onto the skewers while they’re on the grill, since “cumin powder loses its fragrance when heated up too much” if it’s only added before cooking.
Skewering and the Two-Zone Fire
Lean and fat pieces are threaded alternately onto the skewers — Zhu calls this “the key part of making the best lamb skewers,” since the fat bastes the lean meat as it melts and drips onto the coals, flaring and searing the surface. She recommends a charcoal grill set up in three zones: a hot section with a thick layer of coals for searing, a milder section with a single layer of coals for slower cooking, and a coal-free section to hold finished skewers warm. The skewers are flipped frequently and moved between zones “until the lamb turns dark brown on all surfaces,” with the spice sprinkled on partway through cooking.
A Note on Safe Cooking Temperature
Zhu’s recipe judges doneness by color and texture rather than a thermometer reading, which is common for small, fast-cooking skewers. Because these are cubes of whole-muscle lamb rather than ground meat, the relevant USDA benchmark is the same one that applies to lamb chops and roasts: the Food Safety and Inspection Service’s Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart lists “Beef, Pork, Veal & Lamb Steaks, chops, roasts” at 145°F (62.8°C), “and allow to rest for at least 3 minutes.” Given how small these cubes are, a probe thermometer is impractical for each piece; if you want a temperature check rather than relying on color alone, test one of the larger pieces on the skewer before pulling the batch.
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