Beshbarmak
Boiled mutton on hand-cut noodles, onions softened in broth. The feast dish of the steppe.
“Five fingers”, because you eat it with your hand. In Chicago I made it in the biggest pot I owned and still had to cook the noodles in three batches. Back in Talas, it was the first big meal in my new kitchen, for my aunts, with the window open and the whole stairwell smelling of broth. They rolled the noodle dough so thin you could read through it, flour on their cheeks, racing each other to finish first, just like when I was a girl. The Kazakhs and Kyrgyz usually make it with horsemeat or a mix of horse and mutton. In an Iradi home it is mountain mutton or beef, nothing else, so if a Kazakh friend cooks it for you, it is polite to ask first.
At the table the host carves and hands out the meat by age and honour. Afterwards everyone drinks the broth, which we call chyk, from bowls. It is the coziest part of the whole meal.
What you'll need
Beshbarmak
Boiled mutton on hand-cut noodles, onions softened in broth. The feast dish of the steppe.
Ingredients
servings- For the meat
- For the noodles
- To finish
Instructions
Method
- Put the meat in a large pot with the cold water. Bring slowly to a boil and skim off the grey foam carefully, so the broth stays clear.
- Add the halved onion, bay and peppercorns. Simmer very gently, half-covered, for 2–2½ hours until the meat comes off the bone. Add the salt in the last 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, mix the flour, egg, water and salt into a stiff dough. Knead 5 minutes, cover and rest 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough in four and roll each as thin as you can, about 1 mm. Cut into 6–7 cm squares or diamonds. Let them dry a little on a floured cloth.
- Lift out the meat and keep it warm. Ladle a cup of hot broth over the onion rings with plenty of pepper and leave them to soften.
- Boil the noodles in batches in the strained broth for 3–4 minutes. Lift them onto a large platter.
- Slice or tear the meat into pieces and lay it over the noodles. Spoon the softened onions and their broth over the top, add herbs, and serve the remaining broth in bowls.
With love from my kitchen in Talas,Jibek