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 […]
