Book of Days Tales

Kyrgyzstan celebrates its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 on this date.  The national dish of Kyrgyzstan is beshbarmak, which can take many forms depending on the occasion and the cook’s traditions, but is basically boiled meat served over handmade noodles with an onion sauce, and accompanied by meat broth (before and after).  Traditionally it is served on a common platter and eaten with the hands, hence the name beshbarmak which means “five fingers.” It can be made with horse meat, mutton, lamb, beef, or one of several sausages made in central Asia. Lamb is probably the easiest for Euro-American cooks to find.  Serve a bowl of broth before the main dish and then to conclude serve a bowl of broth mixed with kumis (fermented mare’s milk). 

Ingredients

Broth

1.5 kg lamb or mutton

4 liters water

2 onions

Dough

200 ml water

1 tsp salt

1 egg

500 g flour

Chyk sauce

1 onion, peeled and chopped

freshly ground black pepper

salt

500 ml broth

Broth soups

1 tbsp fresh dill weed

2 bay leaf

 2 liters broth

Instructions

Broth

Put the meat in a large stock pot with cold water and bring it slowly to a boil. When the water starts boiling, skim the foam on the surface and simmer for about at least 2 hours, or longer if the meat is not tender.

When the meat is cooked cut it into small slices or strips. Put the cut meat in a separate dish and keep it warm.

Dough

While the meat is boiling, prepare the dough. Pour the water into a bowl, add the egg and salt and whisk well. Add the flour to form a dough. Knead the dough for 10 minutes  Divide the dough into two equal parts and place it in a covered bowl for 10-15 minutes under a dish. Make the 2 parts into a bun and flatten them with your hand. Keep these buns covered for another 15 minutes.

Roll each bun out to a thickness of about 2-3 mm. Take an edge of the dough and fold it over itself like a rolled up newspaper (if you remember them!). Repeat. Cut across each roll to  form noodles about 3-4 mm wide.

When you have removed the meat from the broth lower the noodles into it (still boilingt). When the noodles float to the surface, stir the pot and simmer for another minute. Remove the noodles from the pot and let them drain..

Chyk

Meanwhile prepare the Chyk sauce. Finely chop the third onion. Pour 500 ml of the broth into a pot and bring to a boil. Add the chopped onions, black pepper and salt to taste. The Chyk should be hot when served with the meat and the noodles, so it is necessary to cover it and store it in a warm place in order to avoid it cooling.

Serving

In the remaining broth in the stock pot, add the bay leaf and salt, boil 5 minutes. Fill the serving bowls, and sprinkle with dill. These can be served immediately.

Place the cooked noodles on a warm serving platter.

Peel and cut two onions into rings and put them in the boiling lamb broth for 1 minute. Remove them from the broth and put an even layer of onions on the noodles.

Place the strips of meat in the form of a small hill in the middle of the rings of onions.

Pour the Chyk sauce over the platter and serve.