Cosmopolitan Roots: The Silk Road Melting Pot Born along the ancient Northern Silk Road corridors where Han Chinese, Uyghur, Kazakh, and Hui culinary traditions collided, Da Pan Ji (大盘鸡, “Big Plate Chicken”) embodies gastronomic globalization centuries before the term existed. Its 1980s genesis in Shawan County’s truck-stop kitchens speaks to necessity: Xinjiang’s long-haul drivers needed hearty, scalable meals that could withstand […]
