Cuisine of Kyrgyzstan
Encyclopedia
Kyrgyz cuisine, originating in Kyrgyzstan
, is similar in many respects to that of its neighbors, particularly Kazakh cuisine
.
Traditional Kyrgyz food revolves around mutton and horse
meat, as well as various milk products. The cooking techniques and major ingredients have been strongly influenced by the nation's nomadic way of life. Thus, most cooking techniques are conducive to the long-term preservation of food. Mutton is the favorite meat, although many Kyrgyz are unable to afford it regularly.
Kyrgyzstan is home to many different nationalities and and their various cuisines. In larger cities, such as Bishkek
, Osh
, Jalal-Abad
, and Karakol
, various national and international cuisines can be found. On the road and in the villages, the cuisine tends to be standard Kyrgyz dishes, liberally flavored with oil or sheep fat, which are considered both delicious and extremely healthy by the local population.
Besh barmak is the Kyrgyz national dish, although it is also common in Kazakhstan
and in Xinjiang
(where it is called narin). It consists of horse meat (and sometimes mutton or beef) boiled in its own broth for several hours and served over homemade noodles sprinkled with parsley and coriander. Besh barmak means "Five Fingers" in the Kyrgyz language
, and is so called probably because the dish is typically eaten with the hands. Besh barmak is most often made during a feast to celebrate the birth of a new child, an important birthday, or to mourn a death in the family, either at a funeral or on an anniversary. If mutton is used instead of horse meat, a boiled sheep's head is placed on the table in front of the most honored guest, who cuts bits and parts from the head and offers them around to the other guests at the table.
Shashlik
, skewered chunks of mutton grilled over smoking coals that come with raw sliced onions, is served in restaurants and often sold in the street. The meat is usually marinated for hours before cooking. Shashlik can also be made from beef, chicken, and fish. Each shashlik typically has a fat-to-meat ratio of one-to-one. They are delicious when eaten fresh off the grill, but after being allowed to sit for a time (as is often the case with street vendors) they cool into greasy blobs.
Shorpa (or shorpo) is a meat and vegetable soup.
in Central Asian cuisine
. It consists of pieces of meat (generally mutton or beef, but sometimes chicken) fried in a large qazan
(a cast-iron cauldron) and mixed with fried shredded carrots and cooked rice. The dish is garnished with whole fried garlic cloves and hot red peppers. Uzgen paloo is made with locally grown rice from the southern Uzgen District
of Kyrgyzstan. Shirin paloo, a close relative of shirin plov in Azerbaijani cuisine, is a vegetarian dish in which meat is replaced with dried fruits, such as prunes, apricots, and raisins.
Paloo is the Kyrgyzified form of the Persian word polow or polo, related in etymology to pilaf. In Russian the dish is called plov , in Turkic languages
ash, and in Tajik
osh.
Samsi are little pockets of meat and vegetables wrapped in flakey pastry, very similar to Indian samosa
s. They are stuffed with mutton and fat most often, but are also made with chicken, cheese, cabbage, and beef. The can be bought in most bazaars or on street corners in larger cities.
Lagman (or laghman) is a very popular noodle dish. It consists of thick homemade noodles covered in chopped peppers and other vegetables and served in a spicy vinegary sauce. Lagman is served everywhere in Kyrgyzstan, but is said not to be a Kyrgyz dish at all, but rather a Dungan one
, traditional Central Asia
n flat bread, and thick, sturdy Russia
n breads are also popular. Bread and tea (nan y chai) are considered almost sacred in Kyrgyz culture. A good host always offers their guests bread and tea, even if the guests are only staying for a few moments. Kyrgyz bread is cooked over coals in tandoori-like ovens. It is round and relatively flat. The local people love to dip it in their homemade jams or ayran, soured milk.
A popular Kyrgyz beverage is kymyz ( qɯmɯs), a slightly alcoholic drink made by fermenting mare's milk. This drink is considered to be the signature drink of Euroasian nomadic culture, as it is also consumed in Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Fresh kymyz is only available in the summer, from about May until August, when it can be purchased on the roadside in the mountains. However, you kymyz has been bottled for several years in Kyrgyzstan and can be purchased in shops and markets around the country.
There are many beverages which could be described as traditional Kyrgyz drinks. One such non-alcoholic beverage which is very popular in Kyrgyzstan, especially in the summer, is maksym, a slightly fizzy drink made by fermenting grains. Maksym was traditionally made in small quantities by women for family consumption; however, this drink was introduced as a commercial product in Bishkek by the company 'Shoro
', after which it became widely available all over Kyrgyzstan. Maksym is usually made from malt, but other types of grains may be used in its preparation. There are different methods and recipes for it which vary by region. It is prepared by boiling grounded malt or other type of cereals in water. After reaching a certain state of readiness this substance is cooled and undergoes a fermentation process caused by yeast. Maksym is usually consumed chilled.
Another drink which is made from grounded cereals called jarma. It is made in almost the same way as maksym, except that it isn't fermented, instead it is mixed with ayran
to make it slightly fizzy. Another fizzy drink made from ayran is chalap
(sometimes marketed as Tan). Other traditional drinks are sheep's milk and its products (such as qurut), and camel's milk. The two primary companies which commercially produce Kyrgyz national drinks are Shoro
and Enesay
.
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
, is similar in many respects to that of its neighbors, particularly Kazakh cuisine
Kazakh cuisine
Kazakh cuisine is the cuisine of Kazakhstan. Traditional Kazakh cuisine revolves around mutton and horse meat and as well as various milk products. For hundreds of years Kazakhs were herders who raised fat-tailed sheep, Bactrian camels, and horses, relying on these animals for transportation,...
.
Traditional Kyrgyz food revolves around mutton and horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
meat, as well as various milk products. The cooking techniques and major ingredients have been strongly influenced by the nation's nomadic way of life. Thus, most cooking techniques are conducive to the long-term preservation of food. Mutton is the favorite meat, although many Kyrgyz are unable to afford it regularly.
Kyrgyzstan is home to many different nationalities and and their various cuisines. In larger cities, such as Bishkek
Bishkek
Bishkek , formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and the largest city of Kyrgyzstan.Bishkek is also the administrative centre of Chuy Province which surrounds the city, even though the city itself is not part of the province but rather a province-level unit of Kyrgyzstan.The name is thought to...
, Osh
Osh
Osh is the second largest city in Kyrgyzstan, located in the Fergana Valley in the south of the country and often referred to as the "capital of the south". The city is at least 3,000 years old, and has served as the administrative center of Osh Province since 1939...
, Jalal-Abad
Jalal-Abad
Jalalabat is the administrative and economic centre of Jalal-Abad Province in southwestern Kyrgyzstan, with a population of about 150,000...
, and Karakol
Karakol
Karakol , formerly Przhevalsk, is fourth largest city in Kyrgyzstan, near the eastern tip of Issyk Kul Lake in Kyrgyzstan, about from the Kyrgyzstan-China border and from the capital Bishkek. It is the administrative capital of Issyk Kul Province...
, various national and international cuisines can be found. On the road and in the villages, the cuisine tends to be standard Kyrgyz dishes, liberally flavored with oil or sheep fat, which are considered both delicious and extremely healthy by the local population.
Meat dishes
Meat in various forms has always been an essential of Kyrgyz cuisine. Among the most popular meat dishes are horse-meat sausages, roasted sheep's liver, besh barmak, which is a dish containing boiled meat with thin noodles, and various other delicacies made from horse meat.Besh barmak is the Kyrgyz national dish, although it is also common in Kazakhstan
Kazakh cuisine
Kazakh cuisine is the cuisine of Kazakhstan. Traditional Kazakh cuisine revolves around mutton and horse meat and as well as various milk products. For hundreds of years Kazakhs were herders who raised fat-tailed sheep, Bactrian camels, and horses, relying on these animals for transportation,...
and in Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
(where it is called narin). It consists of horse meat (and sometimes mutton or beef) boiled in its own broth for several hours and served over homemade noodles sprinkled with parsley and coriander. Besh barmak means "Five Fingers" in the Kyrgyz language
Kyrgyz language
Kyrgyz or Kirgiz, also Kirghiz, Kyrghiz, Qyrghiz is a Turkic language and, together with Russian, an official language of Kyrgyzstan...
, and is so called probably because the dish is typically eaten with the hands. Besh barmak is most often made during a feast to celebrate the birth of a new child, an important birthday, or to mourn a death in the family, either at a funeral or on an anniversary. If mutton is used instead of horse meat, a boiled sheep's head is placed on the table in front of the most honored guest, who cuts bits and parts from the head and offers them around to the other guests at the table.
Shashlik
Shashlik
Shashlyk or Shashlik , is a form of Shish kebab popular throughout Israel, Lithuania, former Soviet Union, Iran, Mongolia, and parts of central Europe. Shashlyk is originally lamb depending on local preferences and religious observances...
, skewered chunks of mutton grilled over smoking coals that come with raw sliced onions, is served in restaurants and often sold in the street. The meat is usually marinated for hours before cooking. Shashlik can also be made from beef, chicken, and fish. Each shashlik typically has a fat-to-meat ratio of one-to-one. They are delicious when eaten fresh off the grill, but after being allowed to sit for a time (as is often the case with street vendors) they cool into greasy blobs.
Shorpa (or shorpo) is a meat and vegetable soup.
Paloo
Paloo is the Kyrgyz version of what is generally referred to as plovPilaf
Pilaf is a dish in which rice is cooked in a seasoned broth . In some cases, the rice may also attain its brown color by being stirred with bits of cooked onion, as well as a large mix of spices...
in Central Asian cuisine
Central Asian cuisine
The Central Asian cuisines include:* Afghan cuisine* Iranian cuisine* Mongolian cuisine* Cuisine of Kashmir* Kazakh cuisine* Kashmiri cuisine* Kyrgyz cuisine* Pakistani cuisine * Tajik cuisine* Tibetan cuisine* Turkmen cuisine...
. It consists of pieces of meat (generally mutton or beef, but sometimes chicken) fried in a large qazan
Kazan (cookware)
A kazan, qazan, qozon or ghazan is a type of large cooking pot used throughout Central Asia and in Russia, roughly equivalent to a cauldron, boiler, or Dutch oven. They come in a variety of sizes , and are often measured by their capacity, such as "a 50-litre kazan"...
(a cast-iron cauldron) and mixed with fried shredded carrots and cooked rice. The dish is garnished with whole fried garlic cloves and hot red peppers. Uzgen paloo is made with locally grown rice from the southern Uzgen District
Uzgen District
Uzgen or Özgön is a raion of Osh Province in south-western Kyrgyzstan. The capital lies at Uzgen. :-Demographics:As of 2009, Uzgen District included 1 town, and 99 villages. Its population, according to the Population and Housing Census of 2009, was 201,922...
of Kyrgyzstan. Shirin paloo, a close relative of shirin plov in Azerbaijani cuisine, is a vegetarian dish in which meat is replaced with dried fruits, such as prunes, apricots, and raisins.
Paloo is the Kyrgyzified form of the Persian word polow or polo, related in etymology to pilaf. In Russian the dish is called plov , in Turkic languages
Turkic languages
The Turkic languages constitute a language family of at least thirty five languages, spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family.Turkic languages are spoken...
ash, and in Tajik
Tajik language
Tajik, Tajik Persian, or Tajiki, is a variety of modern Persian spoken in Central Asia. Historically Tajiks called their language zabani farsī , meaning Persian language in English; the term zabani tajikī, or Tajik language, was introduced in the 20th century by the Soviets...
osh.
Noodles and dumplings
Manty are steamed dumplings filled with ground meat and onions.Samosa
A samosa is a stuffed, deep fried,snack that is very popular in the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Southwest Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Mediterranean, the Horn of Africa, North Africa and South Africa...
s. They are stuffed with mutton and fat most often, but are also made with chicken, cheese, cabbage, and beef. The can be bought in most bazaars or on street corners in larger cities.
Lagman (or laghman) is a very popular noodle dish. It consists of thick homemade noodles covered in chopped peppers and other vegetables and served in a spicy vinegary sauce. Lagman is served everywhere in Kyrgyzstan, but is said not to be a Kyrgyz dish at all, but rather a Dungan one
Bread and tea
Bread usually served is nanNaan
Naan is a leavened, oven-baked flatbread. It is typical of and popular in South and Central Asia, in Iran, and in South Asian restaurants abroad. Influenced by the large influx of South Asian labour, naan has also become popular in Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states.Originally, naan is a...
, traditional Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
n flat bread, and thick, sturdy Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n breads are also popular. Bread and tea (nan y chai) are considered almost sacred in Kyrgyz culture. A good host always offers their guests bread and tea, even if the guests are only staying for a few moments. Kyrgyz bread is cooked over coals in tandoori-like ovens. It is round and relatively flat. The local people love to dip it in their homemade jams or ayran, soured milk.
Beverages
There are many beverages which could be described as traditional Kyrgyz drinks. One such non-alcoholic beverage which is very popular in Kyrgyzstan, especially in the summer, is maksym, a slightly fizzy drink made by fermenting grains. Maksym was traditionally made in small quantities by women for family consumption; however, this drink was introduced as a commercial product in Bishkek by the company 'Shoro
Shoro (company)
The Shoro company is a beverage company in Kyrgyzstan. They sell four national beverages: Maksym Shoro , Chalap Shoro , Jarma Shoro , and Aralash Shoro . These beverages are the traditional drinks maksym, chalap, jarma, and a mix of the former two, respectively...
', after which it became widely available all over Kyrgyzstan. Maksym is usually made from malt, but other types of grains may be used in its preparation. There are different methods and recipes for it which vary by region. It is prepared by boiling grounded malt or other type of cereals in water. After reaching a certain state of readiness this substance is cooled and undergoes a fermentation process caused by yeast. Maksym is usually consumed chilled.
Another drink which is made from grounded cereals called jarma. It is made in almost the same way as maksym, except that it isn't fermented, instead it is mixed with ayran
Ayran
Ayran or laban is a cold beverage of yogurt mixed with cold water and sometimes salt; it is popular in many Central Asian, Middle Eastern and South-eastern European countries....
to make it slightly fizzy. Another fizzy drink made from ayran is chalap
Chalap
Chalap or shalap , also marketed as Tan by Enesay , is a beverage common to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. It consists of yogurt, salt, and modernly, carbonated water. The Shoro beverage company markets chalap as "Chalap Shoro" .-Idiomatic usage:...
(sometimes marketed as Tan). Other traditional drinks are sheep's milk and its products (such as qurut), and camel's milk. The two primary companies which commercially produce Kyrgyz national drinks are Shoro
Shoro (company)
The Shoro company is a beverage company in Kyrgyzstan. They sell four national beverages: Maksym Shoro , Chalap Shoro , Jarma Shoro , and Aralash Shoro . These beverages are the traditional drinks maksym, chalap, jarma, and a mix of the former two, respectively...
and Enesay
Enesay
Enesay is a beverage company in Kyrgyzstan. Its primary products are Tan , Arshan , and Tamshan . These beverages are based on the traditional Kyrgyz drinks chalap, maksym, and a mix of them, respectively...
.