Ingredients
Meat
- 1.5 kgmutton on the bone, ideally with some fat
- or the broth left from cooking beshbarmak
Broth
- 3 litreswater
- 1onion, whole
- 2bay leaves
- 1 tsppeppercorns
- salt
To serve
- 2onions, thinly sliced into rings
- black pepper
- chopped dill and parsley
- kurt, dried salted curd, crumbled, optional
Alongside
- baursak or shelpek
- kymyz or tea
Equipment
- deep bowls, or kese, the traditional drinking bowls
Directions
- Put the mutton in a large pot and cover it with cold water. Cold water rather than hot, which draws the flavour into the broth. Bring it slowly to a boil and skim without stopping for the first twenty minutes.
- Skim it while the scum is still a raft on the surface. Add the whole onion, bay and peppercorns once it is clean. Never boil it. Simmer for 2 hours 30 minutes until the meat is falling from the bone. Add the salt in the last half hour.
- Skim the surface fat occasionally, but leave a good amount of it. A layer of golden fat on top is expected and wanted in Kazakh broth, and it is not skimmed clean.
- Slice the onions into fine rings and either scald them in a ladle of the hot broth or add them raw to the pot for the last few minutes. The onion should be softened but still distinct, giving sweetness and a little bite against the fat.
- Season the broth well with salt and plenty of black pepper. Taste it carefully, because a clear broth with nothing in it shows every fault of seasoning. Now serve it very hot in wide bowls. Scatter chopped dill and parsley into each bowl rather than into the pot, so they stay fresh.
- Crumble kurt into the bowl if you have it. Kurt is the hard dried salted curd of Central Asia, and crumbled into hot broth it dissolves into a salty, tangy richness. Add it sparingly, since it is intensely salty.
- Serve baursak or shelpek alongside, torn into the broth or eaten separately. It is drunk hot, in one or two long draughts, and it is considered restorative and warming.
Technique
- It is essentially the beshbarmak broth and the two dishes are inseparable.
- Kurt crumbled in is traditional and worth trying if you can find it.
- Kyrgyz shorpo and Uzbek shurpa are close relatives with vegetables added.
Substitutions
- Lamb in place of mutton, which is milder.
- A good clear lamb stock if you are not making beshbarmak.
Variations
- With kurt crumbled into the bowl.
- With potato added, closer to Kyrgyz shorpo.
- Served as the broth of a full beshbarmak.
History
Meat broth drunk from bowls after beshbarmak, sometimes with kurt crumbled in.
Frequently asked questions
What is Sorpa?
Sorpa is a soup & stew from Kazakhstan: clear rich mutton broth served with meat. Meat broth drunk from bowls after beshbarmak, sometimes with kurt crumbled in.
How long does Sorpa take to make?
Sorpa takes 20 min of preparation and 2 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Sorpa?
Yes, within limits. Lamb in place of mutton, which is milder. A good clear lamb stock if you are not making beshbarmak.
What is the most important thing to get right in Sorpa?
Put the mutton in a large pot and cover it with cold water. Cold water rather than hot, which draws the flavour into the broth. Bring it slowly to a boil and skim without stopping for the first twenty minutes.
