Beshbarmak

Ingredients

Meat and sorpa

• 2 kghorse meat (kazy, zhaya or rib) or lamb on the bone, in large pieces
• 1 tbspsalt
• 1onion, halved
• 6black peppercorns, 2 bay leaves
• 4 litrescold water

Kespe (noodles)

• 500 gplain flour
• 2eggs
• 180 mlwater from the broth, cooled
• 1 tspsalt

Tuzdyk (onion sauce)

• 3large onions, sliced into thin rings
• 400 mlhot skimmed sorpa
• 1 tspcoarse black pepper
• 1 handfulparsley or dill, chopped

To serve

• bowls of hot sorpa with a spoonful of kurt or fresh dill
• black tea with milk

Directions

1. Put the meat into cold water, bring it slowly to the boil and skim relentlessly for the first 20 minutes. Clear sorpa is a point of pride and it is won in these minutes.
2. Add the salt, onion, peppercorns and bay, then hold at a bare tremble for 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours, never a rolling boil, until the meat pulls apart under a fork.
3. Skim off the surface fat into a bowl and keep it. Ladle out 180 ml of broth for the dough and 400 ml for the sauce.
4. Make the kespe: mix flour, eggs, cooled broth and salt into a firm dough, knead 10 minutes until smooth, then rest it covered 30 minutes.
5. Roll the dough out in batches as thin as you can, no more than 1–2 mm, dusting well, and cut into rough squares or diamonds of 6–8 cm. Let them dry on a cloth for 20 minutes.
6. Soften the onion rings in the 400 ml of hot broth with the pepper, off the heat or at the barest simmer, for 10 minutes. They should stay slippery and translucent, not fried. Stir in a spoon of the reserved fat.
7. Boil the noodle sheets in the strained sorpa, in batches, for 3–4 minutes until they float and turn silky. Lift them straight onto a wide platter with a slotted spoon and toss with some of the onion sauce so they do not stick.
8. Carve the meat off the bone into thin slices across the grain and lay it over the noodles.
9. Pour the rest of the tuzdyk and its onions over the top, scatter the herbs, and take the platter to the table whole.
10. Serve bowls of hot sorpa alongside, to drink after the meat. Everyone eats from the platter with their hands, which is what the name, five fingers, refers to.

Technique

• Horse is the prestige meat in Kazakhstan and northern Kyrgyzstan, and a proper beshbarmak includes cured kazy sliced over the top. Lamb is the everyday alternative.
• The boiled sheep head is presented to the most honoured guest, who distributes pieces around the table by rank: ear to the youngest to listen well, eye to another to watch over the family.
• The noodles must be rolled very thin and cooked in the broth, not water. Cooking them separately in plain water loses most of the flavour of the dish.
• Keep the pot below the boil once it is skimmed. A hard boil clouds the sorpa and toughens the meat.

Substitutions

• No horse meat: lamb shoulder and neck, or beef brisket with 2 extra hours of simmering, both work and are widely used.
• No time to roll noodles: wide dried lasagne sheets broken into squares are the accepted shortcut, boiled in the sorpa.

Variations

• The Kyrgyz version, also called besh barmak or naryn, where the meat is shredded rather than sliced and mixed straight through the noodles with onion.
• Naryn proper, served cold or lukewarm with finely cut noodles and kazy, a Central Asian variation of the same idea.
• A version with a whole boiled sheep head placed at the centre of the platter for guests of honour.

History

The name means five fingers, for eating by hand; the boiled sheep’s head is presented to the most honoured guest.

Frequently asked questions

What is Beshbarmak?

Beshbarmak is a main from Kazakhstan: boiled horse or lamb over wide noodles with onion broth; eaten by hand. The name means five fingers, for eating by hand; the boiled sheep’s head is presented to the most honoured guest.

How long does Beshbarmak take to make?

Beshbarmak takes 1 hr of preparation and 3 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 6–8 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Beshbarmak?

Yes, within limits. No horse meat: lamb shoulder and neck, or beef brisket with 2 extra hours of simmering, both work and are widely used. No time to roll noodles: wide dried lasagne sheets broken into squares are the accepted shortcut, boiled in the sorpa.

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

Add the salt, onion, peppercorns and bay, then hold at a bare tremble for 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours, never a rolling boil, until the meat pulls apart under a fork.