A taste of friendship
During centuries many peoples settled in Kyrgyzstan. Uzbeks, Dungans, Russians, Tatars and others joined the Kyrgyz and brought their culture, habits and cooking traditions. Many a tradition was quickly spread over the country, but some remained characteristic for certain groups. This circumstance emerged a great cultural variety. In spite of this all the ethnic groups have one thing in common: for the guests the best is just good enough.
Ecotour feels obliged to continue this tradition. In our yurts we only serve fresh and ecologically grown food produced in the region. With love and care our cooks prepare national dishes as well as particular food of the ethnic groups.
The following recipes are very popular. And easy to cook. But they taste the best in our yurts.
Besh-barmak means "five fingers" because nomads used to eat it with their fingers. It is the national Kyrgyz dish. Cut mutton into small pieces and cook a broth. Add salt and pepper. Cook noodles in the broth. Put the noodles in a separate plate, than add onion rings, boil till they are done. Serve noodles, meat and onion rings on a plate, the soup separately in a cup.
Plov is an Uzbek's national dish. At festivities this popular rice meal is prepared by men. Fry in a wok 300 gr. till 500 gr. minced mutton or beef with some salt and pepper. Add one or two onions and 1 kg of carrots cut into small stripes. A spoonful of ketchup will make the plov spicy. Fry another five minutes. Pour 1 l of water over it and stew it for 15 - 20 minutes. Add 1 kg of rice and cook for another 20 minutes.
Oromo is Kyrgyz and means "filled bag". The filling is the point: a pound of mutton or beef, a pound of onions and the same amount of carrots. All cut into very small pieces. Mince the meat and the vegetables and mix them with margarine and spices. Roll out a thin dough of flour, little oil, salt and some milk, spread the filling on it. Make a roll and steam the wrapped filling for some 45 minutes. Cut into handy pieces.
Lagman is the spaghetti bolognese of the Dungans. Boil noodles in salted water. After rinsing drip some oil on the noodles. Fry minced beef or mutton. Add an onion cut into small pieces with some ketchup and fry for another 10 minutes. Cut 2 pieces of radish, 2 carrots and 4 paprika and fry hot. Pour a cup of water into the pan and braise the meat and the vegetables for 15 minutes. Lagman is only complete when dshusay is sprinkled over it. That is a mixture of minced garlic, parsley, celeriac and basil.
Katyrak borsok is Kyrgyz bread and very sweet. Knead a dough of 1kg flour, 3 eggs, 80 ml of milk, a little sodium, a pinch of salt and a few drops of oil. Roll thin stripes 4 cm wide and 6 cm long and fry these in hot oil. The trick is to form spirals with a wooden stick while frying the sweet. Powder the cookies with icing sugar. Then bite without pricks on conscience.
