Today's recipe is for polo (炸饭), or Mutton Pilaf, the representative dish of Uyghur cuisine, eaten at weddings, funerals, and every other cultural occasion in between. The key to delicious polo is fresh mutton, which may be difficult to procure in most grocery stores outside of Xinjiang. The original version of this recipe calls for a ridiculous amount of cooking oil-- enough to turn the color of the rice yellow, but I have modified it because so many of us Americans have weight problems. Also, please adjust the recipe directions based on the strength of stove, and other kitchen variables. Thanks to MA for contributing her mother's recipe and CCG for transcribing it.
Ingredients:
1 lb. fresh mutton; 3 carrots; 1 large white onion; 3 cups white rice; 2 tsp salt; 1 tsp sugar; ¼ cup cooking oil or less; 4 cups water; ½ cup sultana raisins
Servings: Four
Preparation:
(1) Chop the mutton into small pieces, about one-inch square. For a truly authentic Xinjiang experience, do not remove the bones from meat.
(2) Fry the mutton in a wok on medium heat in cooking oil with 1 tsp salt.
(3) Peel the onion and carrots. Chop vegetables into thin slivers, about one-eighth of an inch thick.
(4) Add vegetables into the wok and continue to fry the mixture until the mutton is about half cooked.
(5) Dissolve the rest of the salt and sugar into 4½ cups of warm water into a pre-heated cooking pot.
(6) Transfer the mixture from wok into the pot. Continue to cook at medium heat for a few minutes.
(7) Add rinsed rice and raisins to the pot and stir until some of the water has evaporated. Poke holes with chopsticks into the rice to let air circulate.
(8) Simmer for about forty minutes without stirring.
Alternative Preparation:
(1) Reduce cooking oil to 2 tsp when frying the mutton in Step 2.
(2) Half-cook the carrots and onion separately in the microwave instead of frying them. Add the vegetables to the rice and raisin mixture in Step 7.
Great recipe! Eating polo at a restaurant here in China is great, but a homemade version from the kitchen of a local Uyghur woman can be incredible.
As a side note, I've actually seen people do the whole process - including the mutton - in a rice cooker. Doesn't taste as good, of course, but it is possible. :)
You are awsome. I'll be making some pilaf tonight.
hey! i used this recipe last friday. the pola turned out okay. but i think i added too much water or something and the rice turned out more like a congee. could also be because i mixed the rice a little more than i should have. but still tasted great. i love these recipes that you're putting up. keep it up!
Lue! I adjusted the water... hopefully this will work better. We were eye-balling most of the measurements (you know how people cook around here) so maybe this will be less like porridge? Sorry guys.