Kazakh Cuisine - Common and Traditional Dishes

Common and Traditional Dishes

Besbarmak, a dish consisting of boiled horse or mutton meat, is the most popular Kazakh dish. It is also called “five fingers” because of the way it is eaten. The chunks of boiled meat are cut and served by the host in order of the guests’ importance. Besbarmak is usually eaten with a boiled pasta sheet and a meat broth called shorpa, and is traditionally served in Kazakh bowls called kese. Other popular meat dishes are kazy (which is a horsemeat sausage that only the wealthy could afford), shuzhuk (horsemeat sausages), kuyrdak (also spelled kuirdak, a dish made from roasted horse, sheep, or cow offal, such as heart, liver, kidneys, and other organs, diced and served with onions and peppers), and various horse delicacies, such as zhal (smoked lard from horse's neck) and zhaya (salted and smoked meat from horse's hip and hind leg). Another popular dish is pilaf (palaw), which is made from meat fried with carrots and onion or garlic, then cooked with rice.

?, also known as crackler, is melted fat in a large bowl with sugar added, and is eaten by dipping bread in it and is often eaten with tea. Kylmai is a sausage made during winter and fall slaughtering and is made by stuffing intestines with pieces of ground meat, fat, blood, garlic, salt, and pepper. Zhauburek, also known as kebab, is popular among hunters and travelers and is a dish in which small pieces of meat are roasted over a fire. Ulpershek is a dish made from the heart, aorta, and fat of a horse, prepared in a kettle, and is often shared between sisters-in-law as a sign of unity. Kazy is a sausage eaten in the spring when a cow has a new calf; it is a giant sausage sometimes served with rice or kurt. Mypalau is a dish made from sheep’s brain made by putting the brain in a wooden bowl, add marrow and some pieces of meat, add salted fat broth and garlic, and this dish is often served to honored guests. Akshelek is a large camel bone distributed to children after slaughtering and cooking meat from a camel.

Kylmai is another kind of sausage eaten later in the year after it has aged - if smoked it will last a long time, something important in Kazakh cooking. Zhal is the layer of fat under a horse’s mane and is served only to special and honored guests, as it is such a rare commodity. Zhaya is the rump of a horse, probably served boiled. Ak Sorpa is a white broth made in the fall, and is a special meal for rich men. Kuiryk-bauyr is a meal which used to be served to kinsmen at wedding parties. It is made with boiled meat, sliced thinly, then sour milk and salted broth are added.

Traditional milk products include sut, which is boiled milk. Kaimak is sour cream made from boiled milk, and is sometimes served with tea. Sary mai is butter made from old milk, often in a leather bag. Kurt is prepared by pressing thick sour cream, and is dried until white and salty. Irimzhik is a cottage cheese processed in the spring, made from boiled, unskimmed milk and added sour cream. Suzbe and katyk are strained and thickened sour milk. Koryktyk is a herdsman’s food, which is thickened milk made out on the steppe. Tosap is made from the scum on the sides of a metal pot and is used as medicine. Airan is sour milk used in winter and summer. Shalgam which is radish salad and finally, shubat (fermented camel’s milk and fermented mare’s milk) is seen as good for one’s health and is imbibed often.

The introduction of flour to Kazakh cuisine brought about dishes such as baursak, shelpek, manti, and non. Baursak is made by frying dough balls, and shelpek is a flat cake made in a similar fashion. Manti, a very popular Kazakh dish, is a spiced mixture of ground lamb (or beef) spiced with black pepper, enclosed in a dough wrapper. Manti are cooked in a multi-level steamer and served topped with butter, sour cream, or onion sauce. Tandyr-nan is a type of traditional bread made in the tandoor oven, popular in cities of along the Silk Way. Kuimak, kattama, and oima are flat puff cakes fried in oil then covered in cream.