A Short Guide
What is Uyghur food?
Written by the kitchen at Dolan's · Updated
Uyghur food is the cuisine of the Uyghur people, developed over centuries in the oasis towns of Central Asia — crossroads where Turkic, Persian and Chinese kitchens traded ingredients and technique. That triple inheritance is the simplest way to understand it: wheat noodles pulled by hand the way Chinese noodle masters work, lamb grilled over charcoal with cumin the way the Turkic world grills, and rice cooked down with carrots and onions into polo, cousin to every pilaf and plov on the continent.
Everything in the tradition is naturally halal, which is why a Uyghur restaurant is so often the answer to "where can we all eat?" — the whole table works, whether your reference point is Uzbek, Turkish, Pakistani, Kazakh or Chinese food.
One dish, many names
If you grew up with Central Asian, Turkish or Chinese food, you already know most of this menu — under a slightly different name. The spelling changes at every border; the dish stays family.
| On our menu | You may know it as | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Laghman | lagman (Uzbek, Russian) · лагман · la mian (Chinese) | Hand-pulled wheat noodles with a wok-fried meat & vegetable sauce |
| Manta | manti (Turkish) · manty (Kazakh, Russian) · манты | Steamed dumplings filled with seasoned lamb and onion |
| Polo | plov (Uzbek, Russian) · pilav (Turkish) · pilaf · osh | Rice slow-cooked with lamb, carrots and onion until amber |
| Samsa | somsa (Uzbek) · samosa (South Asian, usually fried) | Tandoor-baked pastry with a molten lamb-and-onion filling |
| Naan | non (Uzbek) · nan · нан | Round tandoor flatbread with a soft crumb and crisp rim |
| Lamb Kebab | kawap · shashlik (Russian, Central Asian) · şiş (Turkish) | Charcoal-grilled skewers seasoned with cumin, chili and salt |
| Big Plate Chicken | dapanji · 大盘鸡 · tokhu qorumisi | Braised chicken, potato and pepper stew over belt noodles |
Every dish above is on our menu with current prices — the fastest way to test the theory is to order the version you grew up with and taste what changed on the road.
Why "Dolan's"? Music, poplars, and a name
Our name comes from the Dolan people, a Uyghur community from the oasis lands at the edge of the Taklamakan Desert. The Dolan are best known for the Dolan Muqam — a fierce, joyful branch of the Uyghur Muqam musical tradition that UNESCO recognizes as a masterpiece of humanity's oral heritage. A muqam gathering is not a concert; it is a room full of people singing, drumming and dancing until the line between musician and guest disappears. That is the energy we wanted in a dining room.
The desert shows up on the menu, too. Our signature Tower Kebab is named for the toghraq — the desert poplar that grows where almost nothing else can, the tree the Dolan people built their lives around. Stacked tall and carved at the table, it is our small monument to a landscape that taught its people generosity: when you live at the edge of a desert, every guest is fed first.
You can read more about the dishes themselves on Our Cuisine, or read the founder's story on the About page.
Where to try Uyghur food in California
Dolan's serves Uyghur food at three California locations — Alhambra, in the San Gabriel Valley, and Irvine, in Orange County, both open every day from 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM, plus Rowland Heights. 100% halal - the whole menu, the whole kitchen. No pork, no alcohol.