What to See and Eat at The Friday Muslim Market
With the holy month of Ramadan just coming to an end, and the festive feasts of Eid-al-Fitr making you rub your bellies with satisfaction; don’t you wish the fest never ended? Well, it doesn’t have to. The Friday Muslim Meat Market at 1328 Changde Lu, Aomen Lu near the Huxi mosque, guarantees that. Its open from 10am to 3pm but we suggest going there around 11:30am once all stalls are open for business.
Now the market is no secret, but what should one order? Everything looks and smells delicious! Making the hard choices easier, here’s our beginners guide to help ease you into your oncoming food coma.
Raw meat
Easy to spot with the carcasses hanging in the back and butchers chopping meat right in front of you. There are 2 major meat joints, adjacent to each other, both selling beef and mutton, take your pick.
Ningxia Muslim beef and mutton
Where: Stall no. 43
Telephone: 13661557676
Inner Mongolia Muslim beef and mutton shop
Where: Stall no. 42
Telephone: 18717776138
Muslim Mutton, Uygur Lamb
Stall: 36
Mutton doused in turmeric and egg
Where: Stall outside shop 741 on the street
The only stall that sells this particular dish, seemed worthy of trying if you’re fond of experimenting, we weren’t.
Lamb barbecue
Where: Opposite the pilaf stalls on the street are stalls of traditional Chinese shaokao. Perfectly marinated in the Muslim kebab style, these numerous stalls are a crowd puller. In fact they draw such large crowds that they have put out tables on the backside of their stalls for people to eat. (5 RMB per skewer)
Pan fried beef; and meat (lamb) dumplings
You cannot miss this delicacy even if you tried. Arguably the stalls with the longest wait lines, although extremely fast moving, these are worth the wait. More than a couple of stalls selling beef baozi and lamb dumplings, but we recommend stall 40. Its love at first bite we promise. Prefer the baozi, if you need to choose only 1.
Price: 3-4 RMB per baozi, 1.5 RMB per jiaozi
Where: Stall no. 40
Telephone: 18721228627
Where: Stall no.37
Telephone: 15021805538
In addition to the dumplings and baozi, the stall also sells rice porridge, steamed buns and pie.
Rice Pilaf
A recommended item through the market is the traditional handmade yogurt. Along side the equally popular pilaf (rice dish with carrots and meat, simmered and steamed for hours till fragrant)
The pilaf although pale looking at a price of 30 RMB per box, takes you to food heaven as soon as its opened. The smell of meat and steamed rice engulfs you immediately. A huge piece of lamb is added on top.
The yogurt (10RMB/box) more like curd is a natural sour tasting version and goes perfectly with the pilaf. We recommend both.
Where: Stall no. 34
Telephone: 13774341954
Or
Where: Stall no. 29-31
Telephone: 13651981371
Sweets and desserts
The stall is covered in large advertisement banners of all products available on order, while an extended stall is dedicated to a spread of pastries, baked flaky goods, nan-khatai (a specialty baked biscuit). The stall has a standing queue to pay, and they do an assortment box as per personal choice.
Where: Stall outside shop no 735 on the street
Naan
There are multiple stalls that sell freshly baked naan. You can also see the process of making the floury-egg batter dough coming to life.
Where: Moving stalls, no fixed place
Halal Instant Noodles
Where: Shop at the corner end the street (does not have a stall no, goes by landmark)
This stall is easy to spot, since the owner displays a wide array of products ranging from traditional mats, scarves, instant noodles, biscuits, traditional teas and dates.
Interesting finds: Halal instant noodles, Walnut juice and traditional utensils used in Muslim kitchens
Dried fruits and nuts
Where: Scattered around the market are stalls full of colorful displays of a variety of raisins, apricots, figs, walnuts, almonds and dates.
We were left drooling at the low price of 15 RMB per bag of dates.
Interesting find: Water and aromatic tea and coffee are served in brass teakettles, which many of the foreigners pose with for pictures of their authentic experiences.
These staples aside, the market also has moving stalls selling deep fried meat pastry packets called samsa, fresh fruit especially melons, cold noodles with chickpeas, chili and cucumber and the occasional but popular summer stalls of prune juice.
The market isn’t big but you can easily spend an hour with less than 100 RMB to enjoy a full feast.
Muslim Market
Address: Aomen Lu & Changde Lu intersection
Hours: 10am to 3pm
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