Naryn

Ingredients

Meat

• 800 ghorse meat, or beef brisket
• 400 gkazy, horse sausage
• 300 gfatty lamb or lamb tail fat
• 2onions
• 2bay leaves
• 1 tbspblack peppercorns
• 3 litreswater
• salt

Noodles

• 500 gplain flour
• 2eggs
• 150 mlwater
• 1 tspsalt

To finish

• 3onions, sliced paper thin
• black pepper
• the broth

To serve

• the hot broth in bowls, alongside

Directions

1. Simmer the horse meat, lamb and the whole onions with bay and peppercorns for 2 to 2 hours 30 minutes. Add the kazy for the last hour only, whole and unpricked. Do not prick the kazy. Skim the broth thoroughly throughout, because it is served alongside and should be clear.
2. Lift out all the meat and let it cool completely. Now make the dough: mix the flour, eggs, water and salt into a very firm dough.
3. Knead it for 10 minutes, wrap it, and rest it an hour. Roll it out as thin as you possibly can, in batches, and let the sheets dry on a cloth for 20 minutes. Boil the sheets whole in salted water for 3 to 4 minutes, then lift them out and lay them flat.
4. Boil them as whole sheets and cut afterwards, which is the traditional order and is what gives naryn its particular texture. Brush each cooked sheet with a little melted fat and stack them.
5. Slice the cooled meat and the kazy into strips of exactly the same thinness. Everything in the bowl should be the same shape and size, which is what naryn is about.
6. Salt the thinly sliced raw onion and squeeze it lightly with your hands. Salting and squeezing takes the harsh edge off raw onion while keeping the crunch.
7. Toss the noodles, the sliced meat, the kazy and the onion together in a large bowl with plenty of black pepper. Moisten it with a few ladles of the hot broth and a spoonful of the fat from the surface. Add only enough broth to moisten it. Pile it onto a platter and serve the remaining hot broth in bowls alongside.

Technique

• Kazy is sold in Central Asian shops and is worth seeking out, since it is the flavour of the dish.
• Beef brisket and beef sausage are the usual substitutes outside the region.
• The broth is served hot even though the dish is not, which is deliberate.

Substitutions

• Beef brisket in place of horse meat.
• Any good fatty smoked sausage in place of kazy.

Variations

• Made with beef and lamb only.
• Served with more broth, closer to a soup.
• With chickpeas added, which some households do.

History

Thin hand-cut noodles tossed with boiled horse meat and sausage, served with hot broth; a Tashkent tradition.

Frequently asked questions

What is Naryn?

Naryn is a main from Uzbekistan: cold hand-cut noodles with horse meat; Tashkent delicacy. Thin hand-cut noodles tossed with boiled horse meat and sausage, served with hot broth; a Tashkent tradition.

How long does Naryn take to make?

Naryn takes 1 hr plus 1 hr resting of preparation and 2 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Naryn?

Yes, within limits. Beef brisket in place of horse meat. Any good fatty smoked sausage in place of kazy.

What is the most important thing to get right in Naryn?

Simmer the horse meat, lamb and the whole onions with bay and peppercorns for 2 to 2 hours 30 minutes. Add the kazy for the last hour only, whole and unpricked. Do not prick the kazy. Skim the broth thoroughly throughout, because it is served alongside and should be clear.