Zhaotong Small Meat Skewers 昭通小肉串

Where it comes from

As the operations director of a Zhaotong barbecue restaurant told People's Daily Online, the skewers go back to the 1980s, when a Zhaotong man, Liu Yongkun (刘永昆), came across Xinjiang lamb kebabs and adapted them to local means and tastes. He made the skewers small so that ordinary people could afford them, and swapped the lamb for beef from Zhaotong's own yellow cattle. Early sellers worked the street with a fire basin, a palm-leaf fan, a bundle of skewers, a bucket of sauce and two or three tables. Zhaotong named the skewers among its ten famous speciality snacks in a city brand selection announced in February 2024.

How it is made

A thin slice of loin goes onto a fine bamboo stick; the Yunnan provincial Taiwan Affairs Office notes that each stick carries only one piece of meat. The grill cook works a whole handful at once over high heat until the meat just changes colour, dunks the bunch into the shop's sauce so it takes on the flavour, and returns it to the charcoal for a second grilling. Just before it is done, the skewers get a scatter of white sesame and chilli powder. Diners wait about five minutes for their skewers. Each shop keeps its own sauce, and even neighbouring shops taste different.

A beef producer in Daguan County (大关县) calls yellow cattle raised free-range at high altitude the best choice for the skewers, with firm, tender, full-flavoured meat and no gamey smell. In 2024 the Zhaotong skewer association issued a group standard for making and serving the skewers, covering preparation, knife work, threading and grilling.

How it is eaten

Diners order by count or by the handful: "50 skewers of lean" (净肉), or "a handful half lean, half fat" (半净半壮), and eat them one bite to a skewer. A charcoal brazier is set in front of the diners; Zhaotong winters are very cold, so it keeps the skewers warm and lets diners warm themselves while they eat.