The cuisine of Kyrgyzstan still retains its national identity. Of course, food has become much more varied, and many new products have appeared in the Kyrgyz diet: eggs, poultry, sweets, sugar, honey, fruits, potatoes, etc., but many dishes are still prepared in the same way as hundreds of years ago .
Basically, Kyrgyz cuisine is characterized by flour, dairy and meat dishes. Among the meats, the Kyrgyz prefer poultry, beef, lamb, horse meat and meat of wild horned animals. The meat is usually boiled.
The favorite dish of the Kyrgyz people is beshbarmak. It consists of young lamb meat cut into small pieces and boiled, poured with broth and mixed with rectangular noodles. Also quite popular dish kulchetai- boiled large pieces of lamb, cut into thin wide slices, served with thin square pieces of boiled dough. A special meat delicacy from the Kyrgyz cuisine - chuk-chuk, a fat-filled sausage made from horse meat. Also, Kyrgyz cuisine is characterized by dishes in which meat is combined with dough - Gashnan pies, potty and known to many Russians samosa
Recently, other meat dishes that the Kyrgyz borrowed from other peoples have become increasingly widespread:
- Shurpa– meat soup with onions and potatoes;
- Zharkop– potatoes fried with meat;
- Chuchbara– steamed dumplings;
- Lagman;
- And many other dishes.
When preparing dishes, Kyrgyz people often use vegetables: carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes and, of course, onions. In the southern part of the country, pumpkin is popular - it is eaten with meat, added to dumplings and soup, and also prepared from it in independent dishes.
In Kyrgyzstan, many dishes are prepared from milk. Among them is sour cheese kurut which is eaten dry or diluted warm water, cottage cheese, unleavened cheese pishlak and boiled cream kaymak.
Flour products occupy a fairly large place in the national cuisine of Kyrgyzstan:
- Choymo tokoch– cookies similar to our “brushwood”;
- Zhupka– puff pastries that are eaten with cottage cheese and butter, dipped in hot milk;
- Kattama– puff pastries with cream;
- Pancakes;
- Flatbread, fried in oil;
- Boorsoki- pieces of rolled out dough, deeply fried in oil.
Beverages
The most popular soft drink among the Kyrgyz people is tea. In the summer they mostly drink coc tea – green tea. In some areas, lightly salted fresh milk is added to tea. Kyrgyzstan has its own special type of tea - atkanchay, cooked with salt, sour cream, butter and milk.
The national drink of Kyrgyzstan is koumiss. It is made from horse milk, which is taken from a mare at a certain time. Kumiss is low-alcohol, it perfectly quenches thirst and has certain medicinal properties. Quite popular ayran – slightly diluted fermented cow's milk, which is similar to liquid yogurt.
In addition to the usual alcoholic drinks for us, produced both in the country and abroad, Kyrgyzstan has its own alcoholic drinks - similar to beer made from millet and barley "bozo" and "dzarma".
Kyrgyz cuisine is very close to Kazakh cuisine and many dishes of these peoples repeat each other and often have the same name.
The national type of meat is horse meat, but now the Kyrgyz mainly eat lamb (pork is completely excluded). Some horse meat dishes are very popular. For example, chuk-chuk. It is prepared from chilled horse meat and roasted fat. Meat cut from the ribs and fat from the flank are cut into pieces 25 cm long, sprinkled with salt and pepper, garlic is added, mixed and left for a day. The processed intestines are turned inside out with the fatty part and filled (at the same time in two layers) with marinated meat and fat. The ends of the intestines are tied with twine, combined and cooked over low heat for about an hour. Then make several punctures and continue cooking for another 1.5 hours.
The famous beshbarmak (in Kyrgyz – “tuurageenet”) is prepared, unlike the Kazakh one, with a more concentrated sauce (chyk). In Northern Kyrgyzstan, dough is not added to beshbarmak, but instead a lot of onions and ayran (katyk) are added, and this dish is called “Naryn”. They prepare beshbarmak and naryn from freshly slaughtered sheep, and eat them following a certain ceremony. The dish is served with a piece of boiled liver with a fatty piece of meat with a bone and broth separately, in bowls. Bones with meat are distributed among the participants of the meal depending on age, respect and position. Very often, fat tail fat is added to all meat dishes and especially to minced meat. Kyrgyz people like to flavor their meat with ground red and black pepper and herbs.
Meat in combination with dough (hoshan, goskiyda, goshnan, manti, samsa) is as popular as dishes made from natural meat.
Kyrgyz cuisine is rich in soups. They are usually prepared very thick with a variety of fillings from meat, flour products, and vegetables. The peculiarity of Kyrgyz soups is that they first fry the base and then fill it with water.
The Kyrgyz have a wide range of flour products. On holidays and celebrations they are a table decoration. These are baursak, brushwood, turntables, kattama, chak-chak, etc. The flatbreads are prepared different ways. Here is one of them, characteristic only of Kyrgyz cuisine - kemech nan. The technology for preparing this dish is as follows. They cook the usual yeast dough, then place it in a layer of medium thickness in a special oblong-shaped cauldron and bake at low heat. Kemech is also prepared in a different way. They make small flat cakes the size of large coin, baked in ash, put in hot milk and flavored with butter and suzma.
Flour dishes are often combined with dairy products - ayran, kumiss, homemade cheeses.
IN last years In the national Kyrgyz cuisine, noticeably more potatoes and vegetables, various cereals, canned foods, and fruits are consumed.
The assortment of cold dishes and snacks has been replenished with new meat, fish, and vegetable dishes, while at the same time retaining the features inherent in them since ancient times. This is the abundant use of meat, offal, and spices. A particularly common appetizer is “byzhy” – blood sausage made from lamb lungs.
The Kyrgyz sweet table has its own characteristics and is as traditional as that of the Kazakhs. Here, sweets are served before and after meals, or rather, they are not removed from the table at all. In addition to fresh fruits, melons, grapes, berries, tea also accompanies the entire meal. The Kyrgyz drink this drink not only at lunch, but also in the morning, at noon, and after dinner. Tea is usually served with boursaks (sour dough balls fried in fat) or other flour products - gokai, sanza, yutaza, tanmosho, zhenmosho, kinkga. Kyrgyz people drink mostly green tea with milk, salt, pepper and flour fried in butter. The most common is atkanchay: tea leaves, milk, salt. Tea must be brewed in a porcelain teapot and served in bowls.
Kyrgyz people love sweets hot drink- bal made from honey with the addition of ground black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, bay leaf.
Recipes for Kyrgyz cuisine
1. Salad “Susamyr”
Cabbage, radish and dzhusai (parsley) are chopped into strips and marinated separately. Boiled potatoes are cut into cubes, combined with pickled vegetables, add green pea and mix. When serving, the salad is placed in a mound, seasoned with salad dressing and decorated with egg and herbs.
White cabbage 60, sugar 5, vinegar 3% 10, onions 40, canned green peas 20, potatoes 40, egg 1 pc., greens 5, radish 20, jusai (parsley) 10; for tomato dressing: vegetable oil 10, egg (yolk) 1, vinegar 3% 3, squash 50, sugar 2, spices, salt.
2. Naryn salad
The boiled meat is cut into strips, the onion into rings, the radish into strips and everything is mixed well. When serving, place in a mound and decorate with herbs.
Horse meat 100, onions 30, radishes 120, parsley 5, salt.
3. Chu-chuk (sausages)
Horse meat and horse fat are cut from the ribs and salted. The prepared intestines are cut into pieces 45 cm long and one end is tied with twine. Meat and fat are simultaneously placed in two layers into the intestine, and the ends of the resulting loaf are connected to form a round sausage. She is placed in cold water and cook over low heat. After an hour, several punctures are made on it and cooked over low heat (1–1.5 hours). Then the sausage is removed and cooled. When serving, it is cut together with the shell.
Horse meat (fatty) 440, horse intestines 40, spices, salt.
4. Shorpo (soup)
The lamb is chopped into portions (with bones), sprinkled with salt and pepper, placed in a cauldron with fat and fried until golden brown, then add onions, cut into rings, and fresh tomatoes, pour in water, let it boil for 5–10 minutes, add diced potatoes and cook until tender in a sealed container. When serving, sprinkle with herbs.
Lamb 170, potatoes 170, tomatoes 50, onions 20, lamb lard (raw) 30, pepper 0.5, herbs, salt.
5. Lagman in Kyrgyz (thick soup)
Noodles are prepared from unleavened dough and boiled in salted water. A sauce is prepared from meat and vegetables. The meat, cut into small pieces, is fried until a brown crust forms, add radish, onion, and pepper cut into small cubes and fry them together with the meat. Then add tomato puree, chopped garlic, pour in broth and cook until tender. When serving, the heated noodles are poured with sauce. You can add to this sauce bell pepper. Vinegar is served separately.
Beef 110, table margarine 15, wheat flour 100, onion 20, tomato puree 10, radish 80, garlic 5, soda 2, vinegar 3% 8, pepper 0.5, salt, herbs.
6. Kesme (Kyrgyz soup)
Lamb and fat tail fat are cut into cubes and fried until cooked with the addition of tomato. Onions, blanched radishes and jusai (parsley), cut into strips, are sautéed separately. Then add sautéed vegetables to the meat, add a little broth and simmer until done, then pour in the remaining broth and bring to a boil. Add noodles to boiling broth with meat and vegetables and cook for 3–5 minutes. Then add finely chopped garlic and season with spices. The soup is served in a kisa (bowl).
Lamb 110, tomato paste 5, radish 40, jusai 10, onion 20, fat tail lard 10, garlic 5, bones 100, flour 30, egg 1/4 pcs., salt, spices.
7. Batta (thick soup)
The sorted and washed rice is allowed to simmer. The sauce is prepared in the same way as for lagman (see description above). When serving, the rice is poured with sauce.
Meat 80, rice 100, radish 40, vegetable pepper 30, animal fat 10, tomato puree 15, onion 15, vinegar 3% 5, pepper 1, salt.
8. Beshbarmak in Kyrgyz
Lamb is boiled in large pieces in a small amount of water with the addition of salt and pepper, then cut into thin slices 0.5 cm wide and 5 cm long. Unleavened dough is thinly rolled out and cut into oblong rectangles, boiled in broth, combined with lamb and chopped onion rings and simmered in broth, add salt and pepper. The broth is served separately in cups (bowls).
Lamb 160, onion 30, ground red or black pepper 0.5, wheat flour 60, water for dough 20, salt.
9. Kulchetai (meat with broth)
Lamb (1.5–2 kg pieces) is boiled in water (3 liters of water per 1 kg of meat). The finished meat is cut into wide thin slices of 10–12 g each. Unleavened dough is rolled out as for noodles, cut into square pieces and boiled in broth. Onions, cut into rings, are boiled in a small amount of fatty broth with pepper. When serving, the noodles are mixed with onions and the meat is placed on it. The broth is served separately in bowls.
Lamb 120, wheat flour 80, onion 20, pepper 0.5, egg 1/2 pc.
10. Kattama (dough product)
Yeast is diluted in heated water, salt is added, a thick dough is kneaded and placed in a warm place to ferment for 3-4 hours. During the fermentation process, the dough is kneaded twice. The finished sour dough is cut into buns, rolled out as for noodles, chopped onions sauteed with butter are placed on it in an even layer, rolled up and folded 3-4 times in the form of a ball. Then it is rolled out again into a round cake 1 cm thick and fried in a frying pan in a small amount of oil. The broth is served separately.
Wheat flour 80, table margarine 15, onions 15, yeast 2, meat broth 150, salt.
11. Trout fried Issyk-Kul style
The processed fish is cut into portions, breaded in flour and fried. Blanched radish is fried along with onions. Separately, fry the bell pepper, shredded into strips, sauté the tomato and combine with radish and onion. When serving, the fish is garnished with green peas, squash, tomatoes and herbs.
Trout 150, flour 5, vegetable oil 20, onions 120, fresh tomatoes 80, radish 70, bell pepper 30, tomato puree 10, squash 50, green peas (passivated) 20, herbs 6, spices, salt.
12. Lamb stuffed with fat tail
The lamb is stuffed with pickled tail fat, garlic, dzhusai (parsley) and fried, then brought to readiness in the oven. Lamb is served with vegetables fried in fat tail fat and shredded into strips. Decorated with squash and greens.
Lamb 180, garlic 5, jusai 10, fat tail lard 20, vegetable oil 2; for garnish: fat tail lard 15, radish 70, onion 40, bell pepper 30, fresh tomatoes 20, tomato paste 10, eggplant 30, squash 50, spices, salt.
13. Cutlets “Ala-too”
The meat is prepared into minced meat with the addition of milk and yolks, then cut into circles, in the middle of which the white of a hard-boiled egg filled with green oil is placed, and zrazy is formed. The products are coated with leison, breaded and deep-fried. The zrazy is cooked until ready in the oven. When serving, sprinkle with herbs.
Lamb 170, milk 30, egg 1 pc., butter 20, herbs 3, flour 5, egg 1/2 pc., milk 5, bun 30, bun for crouton 20, melted butter for frying 15; for garnish: olives 20, green peas 40, greens 3, squash 50, oil for basting 10, French fries 50, spices, salt.
14. Susamyr (steak)
Beef tenderloin is cut across the grain, lightly beaten, trying to give each piece the shape of a flat cake. Fat tail or kidney lard is cut into small cubes, sprinkled with salt and ground black pepper. Prepared lard is placed on the meat flatbread, the edges are folded, and the product is given a round shape. The steaks are lightly dusted with flour and fried in melted butter.
Beef (tenderloin) 125, fat tail lard 20, flour 5, melted butter 10, pepper, salt.
15. Asip (sausage)
Lamb intestines are turned out, thoroughly processed and washed. Finely chop the liver, heart, lungs and lamb fat, add chopped onions, pepper, salt, raw rice and mix everything. The intestines are stuffed with this minced meat in such a way that about 150–200 g of water per serving can be poured into them, after which the intestines are tied. When boiling, the intestines are pierced with a needle.
Rice 80, liver, heart and lungs 140, lamb lard (raw) 30, onions 25, lamb intestines (thick) 0.5 m, pepper, salt.
16. Goshnan (pies)
The yeast dough is cut into round cakes, small pieces are placed on them raw meat young lamb, mixed with onions and seasoned with pepper and salt, covered with another similar flatbread, the edges of the flatbread are joined and pinched. Fry in a frying pan in a small amount of fat. When serving, cut into several pieces. The broth is served separately.
Lamb 100, flour 120, vegetable oil 15, onion 30, ground red pepper 1, yeast 3, salt.
17. Hoshan (pies)
The flour is divided into two parts, yeast dough is kneaded from one, and unleavened dough from the other. When the sour dough is suitable, it is mixed with unleavened dough, divided into pieces of 40–50 g, rolled out, put in minced meat and pinched, gathering the edges of the dough towards the middle in the form of a knot, then fry on both sides in a deep frying pan with fat, then pour in add water to one third of the height of the hoshan, quickly cover with a lid and leave the hoshan in this position for 5 minutes. When serving, pour vinegar over it or serve it separately. Minced meat is prepared as follows: meat and lard are passed through a meat grinder or chopped, onions, salt, pepper and water are added (15% of the weight of meat).
Lamb 100, fat tail lard 15, butter 15, onion 70, flour 120, soda 1, yeast 2, vinegar 3% 25, ground black pepper, salt.
18. Goshkiyda (pies)
Knead stiff unleavened dough on salted warm water, cut into pieces, which are rolled out into round flat cakes.
Prepare minced meat: pass the meat through a meat grinder with a large grid (or chop it), mix with chopped onions, pepper, salt, adding a little water. The raw minced meat is placed in the middle of the flatbread, pinched, giving the whole product the shape of a ball. Baked in tandoor. After baking, the still hot products are brushed with melted table margarine on top.
Beef meat 130, wheat flour 100, onion 50, table margarine 4, ground black pepper, salt.
19. Gokai (dough product)
Soda mixed with flour is added to the finished sour dough, the dough is rolled out as for noodles, cut into strips 6-7 cm wide, pulled out and rolled into a tube, which is mixed again and rolled out into a flat cake, and fried in a frying pan in a small amount fat Served with tea.
Wheat flour 80, melted butter 10, soda 0.5, yeast 2, sugar 10.
20. Sanza
Unleavened dough with the addition of butter, eggs, soda and salt is cut into small round buns. Holes are made in the middle and greased with oil. After this, the edges are turned out and twisted until a thin ring of dough is obtained, which is rolled into a shape and fried in fat. Served with tea.
Flour 80, butter 5, vegetable oil or cottonseed oil for frying 15, soda 0.5, egg 1/2 pcs., salt.
21. Yutaza (dough product)
The finished sour dough is rubbed with flour, then rolled out, cut into strips, greased with oil and pulled out strongly, after which it is rolled into a tube and the ends are pressed down. The product is given a round shape, placed on cascans and steamed, like manti. Served with tea.
Wheat flour 80, cottonseed oil 15, yeast 2.
22. Samsa (dough product)
Unleavened dough and minced meat are prepared from raw meat chopped into pieces, chopped raw onions, and pepper is added. The pies are formed and baked in a tandoor.
Wheat flour 80, lamb 80, onion 50, melted lamb fat 3, red pepper 0.5, salt.
23. Kinkga (dough product)
Unleavened dough is kneaded with the addition butter and baking soda, then rolled into a layer 4–5 mm thick, cut into various shapes and fried in hot fat (deep fat). Served with tea.
Wheat flour 80, butter 5, soda 1, vegetable lard or cottonseed oil 20.
24. Tak-mosho (turntables)
Tang moshuo is made from sour dough. On a table greased with vegetable oil, pinwheels are formed - intertwined ropes of dough. Fry in large quantities vegetable oil. Hot pinwheels are served sprinkled with granulated sugar.
Compared to other Asian countries, the cuisine of Kyrgyzstan is unlikely to be rich in seafood, since the country is landlocked and transporting such products is expensive.
Therefore, the traditional cuisine of Kyrgyzstan consists of meat, flour, dairy products and rice.
Of course, traditional Kyrgyz cuisine includes lamb and horse meat, but today in Bishkek you can find many dishes that use lamb for flavor.
In fact, Kyrgyz cuisine has long been influenced by different countries and cultures, as a result of which it included dishes from Russian, Turkish, Asian, Georgian and Central Asian cuisine.
Here are some traditional dishes of Kyrgyzstan:
Palo
Perhaps it would be better to call this dish “pilaf”.
Palo is a rice dish with pieces of fried meat, carrots, garlic and onions, seasoned with herbs and chili peppers.
For lovers of fatty foods, rice with meat and vegetables is the best option. For vegetarians there is a special pilaf with dried fruits.
Lagman
There is no better dish in the cuisine of Kyrgyzstan than Lagman. Lagman is a dish of the Dungan people, whose roots lie in Western China.
To prepare Lagman, homemade noodles are used, and the broth in Lagman gives it some piquancy.
Forget about the soy sauce that is added to noodles in Chinese restaurants. Instead, a spicy, salty broth with meat, pepper, onions, carrots and herbs is added to Lagman.
It is very difficult to eat thick noodles, as they splash with broth as they fall. So be careful. It’s better not to wear a white shirt if you want to order Lagman.
Manti
Manti are dumplings. As a rule, they are slightly smaller than the palm of your hand. Manti are stuffed with meat (usually lamb), onions and potatoes. This is a fatty dish (fatty food tastes better, right?).
These dumplings are served with vinegar or ketchup, but it is better to try them with sour cream.
If you're trying them for the first time, be careful! The fat and juice inside the manti may be hot and splatter.
Shashlik
Shish kebab can bring good revenue to sellers. Sellers grill meat on skewers over coal smoke right on the street, allowing the smell to mesmerize all passers-by.
Usually shish kebab is made from fatty lamb, but making shashlik from chicken and beef is quite easy. Cooking such kebab is practiced in many restaurants and large cities.
Shish kebab is usually served with chopped onions or sliced cucumber.
Beshbarmak
Beshbarmak is not for everyone. If you like meat, you will like it.
Beshbarmak is made from horse meat or lamb, which is cooked in its own broth and fat. This broth is then served with the noodles. This dish is eaten with your hands.
Beshbarmak will be very tasty if you add spices to it. But this is a traditional dish, usually eaten only on special occasions such as birthdays or funerals. Also, according to tradition, a boiled lamb's head is served on the table in front of the guest of honor.
As mentioned earlier, if you are a meat lover, then this dish is for you.
Traditional Kyrgyz cuisine essentially revolves around lamb, horse meat and various dairy products. Cooking methods and the main ingredients used are mainly influenced by the nomadic lifestyle of these people. The main task of the Kyrgyz nomads was to process food products so that they are preserved for as long a period as possible.
Today's Kyrgyzstan is home to a wide variety of nationalities, and therefore traces of a wide variety of national cuisines can be found in the country, especially in large cities. But the original Kyrgyz dishes today are prepared mainly in rural areas - very simple, primitive and fatty dishes are still prepared here from available ingredients.
Perhaps the main food product for the Kyrgyz people has always been meat. Popular dishes of Kyrgyz national cuisine are horse meat sausages, fried lamb liver, beshbarmak, and all kinds of horse meat delicacies. Perhaps the main national Kyrgyz dish is beshbarmak. This dish is prepared from horse meat (less commonly, lamb or beef), which is boiled in its own broth for several hours and served with homemade noodles and herbs. Translated from the local language, beshbarmak means “five fingers” - a reference to the fact that the dish must be eaten with your hands. Beshbarmak is a festive Kyrgyz dish, usually prepared in honor of a wedding, the birth of a child, an anniversary, or a funeral.
The Kyrgyz, like many other peoples of this region, are specialists in the field of cooking barbecue. Shish kebab here is traditionally prepared from pre-marinated lamb and onions. The peculiarity of Kyrgyz kebab is that it is much fattier than in other Central Asian countries.
Like other countries in the region, people in Kyrgyzstan love and know how to cook pilaf. Paloo, as the Kyrgyz call pilaf, is not much different from, say, Uzbek or Tajik pilaf - it is a mixture of rice, pieces of meat and carrots, cooked in a large cauldron. Except that the Kyrgyz more often than others add other products to pilaf - garlic, hot red pepper. There are also vegetarian variations of Kyrgyz pilaf.
The Kyrgyz national cuisine is also not unique in its love for doughy hot dishes. Popular here are manti (large steamed dumplings with meat and onions), samsa (small triangular pies filled with meat), and lagman (a homemade noodle dish) - dishes that are well known in other Central Asian countries.
Most dishes here are served with nan, a traditional flat bread. Also during the Soviet era, black Russian bread became very popular. Well, the combination of nan and tea is practically sacred in Kyrgyz culture - the owner always tries to treat his guest to nan and tea, even if he came in for just a couple of minutes. Tea in Kyrgyzstan is a ceremonial drink and has important cultural significance. Other drinks popular in Kyrgyzstan are kumiss and ayran.