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Food is all about connection.
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I know for me, the taste
of a piping hot Earl Grey
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always reminds me of comfort
and the security of home.
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And, you know, particularly
when we feel disconnected,
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that taste can mean everything.
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However, there are some people
who simply cannot go home.
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People like the Uyghurs,
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a Muslim minority group
from Western China.
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Isobel Yeung went there undercover
last year to report on camps
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where China has imprisoned
more than a million Uyghurs
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to quote unquote "re-educate"
them away from their traditions.
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One of these traditions is
their distinctly unique cuisine
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and style of cooking.
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And for the more than one million
Uyghurs now living outside of China,
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it's never been more important.
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PRESERVING CULTURE
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So what's the secret
to making good laghman?
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(Maria) The dough
has to be prepared right.
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(Ysobel) Who taught you
how to do this?
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(Maria) My mom.
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(Adila) We grow up eating laghman,
making laghman.
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(Maria) In my country, I was a nurse.
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[After] coming to America,
[I became] a restaurant chef.
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(Ysobel) Oh, my god.
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(Ysobel) Wow, perfect!
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Oh, my god, that texture is amazing,
they're like the perfect consistency.
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Uyghur food is really interesting
because it does seem
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like a mix of different types of foods.
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Yes.
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Like, there's definitely
some Chinese elements in there
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with noodles, and garlic, and ginger,
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but then there's also a lot of like
Central Asian flavors, right?
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(Ysobel) Adila and her mom,
Maria, are Uyghurs.
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They come from north-west China
in a region called Xinjian.
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Unlike the majority of China's population
who are Han Chinese,
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the Uyghurs are mostly
Muslim Turkic ethnicity
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who have their own language and
traditions much closer to Central Asia.
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My favorite Uyghur dish
is laghman or lamian,
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hand-pulled noodles served with meat,
pepper, scallions, cumin, and spices.
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What does the lamian mean to you?
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Laghman is a traditional dish
passed down from the ancestors.
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That is also why we teach our children
how to make laghman and tell them,
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"Don't forget Uyghur culture.
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Remember us when you are making laghman."
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Thank you, bye.
Have a good one. Thank you.
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(Ysobel) Adila moved from China
to Boston to study when she was 17.
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Almost a decade later,
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she opened the only Uyghur restaurant
in Massachusetts at the time,
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with dishes based on her mom's recipes.
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During that time, Uyghur lives in China
have deteriorated dramatically.
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In an effort to, in their words,
"combat terrorism,"
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the Chinese government
has sent over one million Uyghurs
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to sprawling prison-like camps
over the last three years.
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Here they're frequently
interrogated and tortured,
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banned from practicing Islam,
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and forced to recite
Chinese Communist Party ideology.
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Xinjian has been transformed
into a dystopian surveillance state.
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Maria and Adila's own family
have been swept up in the crackdown.
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In 2018, Adila's father--
Maria's husband,
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stopped answering their calls.
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Eventually, they learned
he too had been taken to the camps.
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My family are on my mind
and in front of my eyes
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all the time when I'm working.
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If I don't think about them,
I might lose my motivation.
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The father of my children is in jail.
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(Ysobel) When Adila is not working
in her restaurant six days a week,
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she's searching for any information
she can find about her dad.
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This is my father, born in 1971.
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What did he tell you about
how the situation is changing in Xinjian?
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He's like, you know,
we can't talk directly.
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We always said, cold or warm.
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Because he's worried about
the Chinese government listening?
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Yeah.
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And if anyone get detained,
they would say, "He left."
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My father always call me [inaudible].
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(Adila's father recording)
Adi hun. Adi hun. Adi hun.
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I miss you, Adi hun.
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Adi hun, my child.
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Adi hun, my child.
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I like it a lot.
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(Ysobel) Uyghurs is China can be
locked away for anything from praying,
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wearing a long beard,
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or having relatives abroad.
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In Adila's father's case,
it was for fasting during Ramadan.
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What do you think
your dad's life is like, right now?
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Oh, I don't want to think about this
like, it's very hard.
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I get scared, you know.
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He can't eat a proper meal.
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My mom cooked for him every day.
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I can't think about what he's eating now.
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(Ysobel) Last year, Adila took part
in a social media campaign
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called #MetooUyghur.
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She's also given testimony
about her missing relatives
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and lobbied Senators
like Elizabeth Warren,
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but speaking out has exposed her
on Chinese social media.
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I was dragged into a WeChat group
with 500 Chinese there.
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They were seeing me like I'm a terrorist,
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and they post all the information
about the restaurant,
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my personal information,
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where did I go to school,
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where do I live, my car, everything.
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Wow, that must've been scary.
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I was so scared.
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(Ysobel) In spite of the threats,
or maybe because of them,
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the work that Adila, Maria, and
chef Arkin are doing at the restaurant
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feels more important now than ever.
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Wow, that's one massive noodle!
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Just having a restaurant like this
advertising Halal food
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is no longer allowed in Xinjiang.
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It seems like for all of you,
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you know, having this Uyghur restaurant,
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is so much more than
just about selling the food.
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It's about introducing a culture
and making sure it stays alive.
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(Adila) There are many many jobs
we can make money, like easier jobs.
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A restaurant is really hard,
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every day,
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a year long.
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If you like my food,
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if you like me,
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this is the way that you get
into Uyghur people.