What Local Dishes Must You Try in Ili?

I. Iconic Meat Dishes (The Soul of Ili Cuisine)

1. Smoked Horse Sausage & Horse Meat Narin (Kazakh Signature Dish)

• Smoked horse sausage: Cured over fruitwood, juicy and springy with amber marbling. Serve sliced plain or stir-fried with onions.
• Horse meat narin: Wide handmade noodles topped with stewed horse meat and thick broth. You can eat it with your hands and get free refills of soup.
  Recommended restaurants: Aini Narin Restaurant, Ku'ergan Farmhouse Meal.

2. Baked Buns (Samsa)

   Thin wrappers filled with mutton and onions, baked golden and crispy in a nang pit with juicy filling inside. Price: 3–5 RMB apiece.

   Recommended spots: Bayandai Top Baked Buns, street stalls on Six-star Street.
3. Nang Pit Roast Meat / Rack Roast Lamb

   Big chunks of lamb legs and ribs are roasted against the inner wall of a nang pit. Crispy outside, juicy inside and full of cumin aroma.

   Recommended restaurants: Ali’s Nang Pit Roast Meat, Hometown Barbecue.
4. Boiled Lamb (Hand-grabbed Lamb)

   Tianshan lamb boiled simply with only salt and onions. The meat is tender with no gamey taste, retaining its original flavour.
5. Red Willow Lamb Kebabs

   Lamb threaded onto red willow twigs and grilled over charcoal, infused with a natural herbal fragrance. A must-try at night markets.

II. Carb Staples (Fill Your Belly)

1. Lamb Pilaf (Polo)

   Slow-cooked lamb rice with carrots, onions and mutton fat. The glossy rice comes with free milk tea.

   Recommended: Tefeng Pilaf (Shiwu Branch).
2. Fried Meat Noodles (Lagman)

   Chewy hand-pulled noodles tossed with stir-fried mutton, green peppers and tomatoes. Free extra noodles.

   Recommended: Guli’s Noodles, Liugen Gun Noodle House.
3. Baursak (Kazakh Fried Pastry)

   Deep-fried dough chunks, crispy on the outside and soft inside. Perfect soaked in milk tea, a classic high-energy breakfast for nomads.
4. Xibe Flatbread with Bone Broth

   A Xibe ethnic speciality. Soft, chewy flatbread paired with thick bone soup, an unbeatable breakfast choice.

III. Hidden Local Snacks

1. Sheep Lung with Noodle Paste & Rice Stuffed Sheep Intestines

   Sheep lungs filled with flour batter and sheep intestines stuffed with rice and minced meat. Drizzled with spicy vinegar sauce after boiling. Tender and savoury, ideal with alcohol.
2. Spicy Numbing Chicken

   Shredded chicken tossed with Sichuan pepper, chilli and onions. Spicy, numbing and fragrant; match it with wide belt noodles for a perfect meal.
3. Xinjiang Stir-fried Rice Noodles

   Fiery spicy rice noodles, even tastier with pickled mustard greens. Reliable long-standing shops: Lafengqin and Zhuoji.

IV. Desserts & Drinks (Cut Through Grease)

1. Handmade Ice Cream (Yining’s Speciality)

   Fresh milk simmered in a copper pot with wild sour plum or honey, then chilled and beaten in an ice cellar. It can be pulled into long silky threads with rich milk flavour.

   Recommended shops: Gulandam, Tatar Ice Cream.
2. Kvass

   Fermented honey drink, cool and lightly sweet. Excellent for cutting greasiness and pairing with barbecue.
3. Yogurt & Yogurt Curds

   Xiyuchun and Tianrun plain yogurt: thick and additive-free. Yogurt curds taste sharply sour — order cautiously.

V. Food Streets for One-stop Tasting

1. Six-star Street: Trendy ethnic block with baked buns, handmade ice cream and accordion culture.
2. Han People’s Street Night Market: Crowded with local residents, full of street food vibes; try kebabs, sheep lung and mutton intestines.
3. Shihu Street & Silk Road Light Night Market: Budget-friendly and popular among locals.