About Kazakhstan | Culture

Cuisine

Most Kazakhs prefer meat; hence, the favorite national dish is beshbarmak, made of lamb, horse meat, beef, and dough. This is not the only dish that contains horse meat, however. Others include:

  • Kazy
  • Karta
  • Zhal
  • Zhaya

Kazakhs also drink mare’s milk, Kumys, to treat lung and intestinal-gastric illnesses.

Beyond these dishes, the national cuisine is quite diverse. Over one hundred ethnicities live in Kazakhstan, so people are quite familiar with other dishes, such as:

  • Asian pilav, made with meat and rice
  • Russian pelmenis and blinys
  • Korean spicy salads
  • Uighur noodles

Other popular culinary choices are found in Ukrainian, Uzbek, and European restaurants and cafes.

Recipes

Pumpkin Samsa

Ingredients: (Serves four)

  • 300 g wheat flour
  • 140 g water
  • 2 g salt
  • 400 g pumpkin
  • 80 g fat of sheep’s tail
  • 100 g onion
  • 10 g ground pepper

Directions:

  • Cut pumpkin and fat into small cubes.
  • Add the chopped onion, salt, and pepper.
  • Mix everything together.
  • Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at a temperature of 200-220 degrees Centigrade.
  • Serve hot or cold.

Kazakhstan Salad

Ingredients: (Serves four)

  • 96 g beef (shoulder) or 90 g mutton (ham or shoulder)
  • 4 eggs
  • 20 g milk
  • 10 g butter or margarine
  • 60 g potato
  • 40 g pickled cucumber
  • 40 g carrot
  • 20 g canned peas

Directions:

  • Slice boiled meat, potatoes, carrots and cucumbers.
  • Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  • Mix it all together and add 40 g sour cream.
  • Decorate with peas, slices of meat and greens or pickled vegetables.

Fish a la Irtysh

Ingredients: (Serves four)

  • 120 g fish (perch or sheat)
  • 160 g potato
  • 100 g fresh or pickled cucumber
  • 60 g tomato
  • 4 boiled eggs
  • 80 g mayonnaise

Directions:

  • Fillet the fish.
  • Fry it lightly on both sides.
  • Cool and slice it.
  • Chop cucumbers and potatoes
  • Mix with fish and mayonnaise.
  • Arrange the salad in a pyramid
  • Decorate with slices of fish, tomatoes and eggs.
  • Pour mayonnaise on top.

Kespe (Noodles) a la Kazakh

Ingredients: (Serves four)

  • 130 g beef or mutton (brisket)
  • 64 g vegetable oil
  • 120 g onion
  • 3 g garlic
  • 1 g ground red pepper
  • 240 g wheat flour
  • 6 eggs
  • 50 g water
  • 1 g salt

Directions:

  • Prepare thick dough.
  • Let it sit for 30 to 40 minutes.
  • Roll out the dough into small sheets 1.5 mm thick.
  • Dry them a little.
  • Roll them up and slice them into thin strips (noodles).
  • Cut meat into 23 mm cubes
  • Fry them in vegetable oil
  • Add salt, pepper and bouillon.
  • Cook until done.
  • Boil noodles
  • Serve them with meat, and sprinkle the mixture with greens.

The blog KazakhWorld posted about Kazakh cuisine.