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Kyrgyz Beshbarmak

Name: Kyrgyz Beshbarmak
Total time: 2 h 45 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Kyrgyz
Ingredients: 1 kg horse meat or lamb on the bone; 2500 ml cold water; 1 onion, halved; 2 leaves bay leaf; 8 black peppercorns; 2 tsp salt; 200 g chuchuk (horse sausage), optional; 400 g plain flour, for the noodles; 1 egg; 180 ml lukewarm water, for the dough; 0.5 tsp salt; 2 large onions, sliced into rings; 250 ml hot broth from the pot; 1 tsp black pepper; 10 g fresh dill or parsley, chopped

The Kyrgyz platter: boiled horse meat or lamb, hand-cut noodles and chyk onion sauce

Ingredients

1 kg horse meat or lamb on the bone

2500 ml cold water

1 onion, halved

2 leaves bay leaf

8 black peppercorns

2 tsp salt

200 g chuchuk (horse sausage), optional

400 g plain flour, for the noodles

1 egg

180 ml lukewarm water, for the dough

0.5 tsp salt

2 large onions, sliced into rings

250 ml hot broth from the pot

1 tsp black pepper

10 g fresh dill or parsley, chopped

Method

Start the broth cold: put the meat in a large pot, cover it with the cold water and bring it slowly to the boil. Skim off every bit of grey foam as it rises - this is what decides whether the sorpa is clear or cloudy, and you cannot fix it later.

Season and simmer: add the halved onion, bay leaves, peppercorns and salt. Cover and cook at the barest simmer for 2 hours, until the meat comes away from the bone - horse meat takes the longer end of that. Never let it gallop or the broth goes murky.

Make the dough while it cooks: work the flour, eggs, water and salt into a firm dough, knead it for 8 minutes, then cover and rest it for 30 minutes. It should be stiffer than pasta dough.

Roll and cut: roll the dough out as thin as you can and cut it into rough squares about 7 cm across. Dust them with flour and spread them out so they do not stick.

Lift out the meat and keep it warm under foil. Strain the broth. Skim two or three tablespoons of the fat off the top and set it aside - that fat is the sauce.

Make the sauce: put the onion rings in a pan with the skimmed fat and a ladle of hot broth. Cook them gently for 10 minutes until slack and translucent but not coloured. Grind in the pepper.

Boil the noodles in a wide pan of broth let down with a little water, in two or three batches so they have room. They need 4-5 minutes and float when done. Lift them out with a slotted spoon.

Build the platter: spread the noodles over a large warm dish. Pull the meat off the bone in big pieces and lay it on top. Spoon the onions and their liquid over the lot and scatter with dill. If you are using chuchuk, poach it whole in the broth for 40 minutes, then slice it and lay the rings around the edge.

Serve the sorpa alongside in bowls, to drink with the meal. Beshbarmak means five fingers: it is eaten with the hands, from the shared platter.