Kyrgyz Lagman

When I first arrived in Kyrgyzstan, I was baffled by the food choices and not just because I couldn't read the menu. The Kyrgyz food was a reflection of its people: simple, hearty, traditional. Over time I learned to love and appreciate most of the food we ate, but I have a special fondness for Lagman. Lagman is lamb, noodles, and vegetables served in a beef broth. I would order it in every restaurant and repeatedly ask my sister when we would be having it at home.

A key ingredient to Lagman is the noodles. Handmade and stretched out by hand, they are amazing. I loved rolling out the dough and preparing to throw it out between my fingers. It took hours to properly prepare, which severely limited how often we made Lagman at home, but it was so much fun.

This video features Chef Anora Khudayberdeva from Jibek Jolu Restaurant in Chicago, preparing Lagman noodles. The magic really begins at the 2-minute mark

Here in the States and living by myself, making noodles by hand is a bit much, but I was struck by a craving for Lagman this past weekend, so I set out to see if my Kyrgyz skills could be replicated in North Carolina.

Ingredients

1 pack Hokkien Noodles (often in the International aisle)

1 pack of stir-fry beef cubed(about 1lb)

1 yellow or white onion diced

1 Daikon root diced (or root vegetable of your choice)

1 green bell pepper diced

2 large carrots diced

1 14ounce can of diced tomatoes

4 cloves of garlic minced

3 cups beef broth

2tsp Sriracha (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

3 tbsp vegetable oil

The first step is to prepare all of your ingredients. Dice the carrots, green peppers, and daikon into small pieces. Make sure you remove the outer layer of the daikon before dicing it. The outer layer has a stringy quality that you want to avoid in your dish. Quarter the carrots before dicing to ensure that the pieces cook down evenly.

 

I used a food processor to dice my onion into small pieces mostly because the tears of fire dripping from my eyes around any sort of onion leave me unable to see where I am chopping. If you can keep your eyes open while dicing an onion, try to make each piece about 1in in length. 

Peel your garlic cloves and give each one a quick mince. This awesome video by Saveur Magazine shows you how to peel an entire head of garlic in 10-seconds. It will change everything you know about garlic peels.

Next, you will want to cube your beef into bite sized pieces. At this time, place a large pot on the stove and begin to heat the 3tbsp of vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, add the beef and brown it on both sides. 

After the beef has browned on both sides, add in the garlic and onions and allow them to sauté for 5-6 minutes.

As the onions begin to look translucent, add in all of the ingredients except for the noodles. I prefer to add in 2tsp of Sriracha to bring a little bit of heat to the dish, but this is optional. If you choose not to use Sriracha, try adding 3tbsp of cumin seeds or grounded star anise to bring more flavor to the broth.

Lower the temperature of the stove to low-medium heat and allow the soup to cook for 30 minutes while stirring occasionally.

After 30 minutes, prepare your noodles according to the directions on the package and remove the soup from the heat. For added flavor, cook your noodles in a mixture of beef broth and water.

Place the noodles in a deep bowl and spoon the soup over the noodles. 

Sit back and enjoy your Kyrgyz dish!