National cuisine of Uzbekistan

Uzbek national cuisine developed along with the culture and traditions of the great people. In general, the cuisine has gained fame far beyond the East, and even throughout the world. In the USA, European countries and, of course, Russia, there are several hundred restaurants serving Uzbek cuisine, which continue to be popular among representatives of different cultures. The dishes of Uzbekistan have won such fame for their simple set of products, satiety and excellent taste, which are revealed thanks to the widest range of oriental herbs and spices, so skillfully selected for each individual dish.

The cuisine is closely connected with the culture and way of life of the Uzbek people. With the development of traditions and changes in lifestyle, more and more new products and methods of processing them were added to the diet. The variety of the menu was also influenced by the cuisines of its eastern neighbors, but in general, Uzbek cuisine stands out from the Asian variety of delicacies.

Particularity of Uzbek cuisine

Characteristic features of Uzbek cuisine are high calorie content, the use of large amounts of oil and lard, as well as spices, seasonings and herbs. The range of dishes, as well as drinks, is very wide. Lamb, beef, horse meat, goat meat, camels and lean poultry are held in high esteem. Fish is not the main dish in Uzbek cuisine, with exceptions being the regions near the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. Naturally, there is no talk of eating pork in the cuisine of Muslim people.

Another feature of real Uzbek cuisine is abundance, and it begins to manifest itself at the stage of adding food to the dish. One culinary feature is that there is usually half as much meat in a dish as there is a side dish. Uzbek cuisine wins in this regard in all respects, for example, in Uzbek pilaf the amount of meat and rice is usually identical.

The national cuisine will also delight lovers of onions, since almost all meat dishes contain a huge amount of this spice, sometimes one and a half times the amount of meat.

During the preparation of the first and second courses, vegetable oil “flows like a river.” Cottonseed oil, which is pre-heated before adding food, is extremely popular. On the contrary, spices is added in moderation, which allows the taste of the meat to open up very successfully and sparkle with new colors.

The main kitchen utensils traditionally remain the tandoor and cauldron. Nowadays technical progress has not reached almost any corner of the Earth and stoves and other equipment are used when preparing dishes, but in a restaurant of true national cuisine there will always be a cauldron and tandoor.

To understand a little about what is worth trying and what is not to your taste, you should consider in detail the most important dishes of the national Uzbek cuisine. Often, you can easily get confused in the menu, since not all restaurants of Uzbek cuisine offer menus with decoding. On the menu you can only see the names of the dishes, but what they contain remains a mystery.

Relying on the waiter's advice is not a good idea, since most dishes of Uzbek cuisine are very fatty and are not always suitable for a person accustomed to the European diet. Before tasting, it would be a good idea to familiarize yourself with the composition of the dishes and the method of their preparation, because what is good for an Uzbek may turn into heartburn for a Russian.

The soup of Uzbek cuisine

The most famous soup is, of course, lagman. Lagman is always popular in Russian restaurants of oriental cuisine, and Uzbeks believe that lagman comes from their culture. The recipe for this excellent soup is very simple, and the set of products, on the contrary, is varied. The Uzbek lagman includes lamb or beef (often on the bone), fat tail fat, special hand-cooked noodles, a lot of greens and a variety of vegetables (tomatoes, potatoes, sweet peppers and others), as well as spices. This soup is very dense and rich; with one bowl you can easily satisfy your hunger and get unforgettable pleasure from its high taste.

Another signature first course is shurpa soup. There are quite a lot of ways to prepare Uzbek shurpa, as well as varieties of the name. The set of products used is standard: lamb or beef, a lot of greens and a variety of vegetables, but the main feature of shurpa is that this soup is quite thick.

Depending on your preferences and, very importantly, your health status, you should order the shurpa that you can handle. Kovurma shurpa is a standard soup, the ingredients for which are fried in a large amount of fat. Kainatma shurpa is more suitable for people whose stomachs are not accustomed to such fatty and rich foods, since this type of soup is prepared exclusively by boiling vegetables and meat without using a large amount of fat.

Mastava also maintains popularity due to its excellent taste. You can get satiated with this soup instantly and it won’t even get to the pilaf. In addition to traditional vegetables and meat deeply fried in fat, this soup includes rice and is often called “liquid pilaf.”

Mashkhurda is similar in composition to mastava, but mung bean is added to it. Many soups of Uzbek cuisine are prepared based on the legume crop mung bean. For example, sikhmon is a soup made from mung bean, katyk, corn flour, fat tail fat, umach noodles and spices

Katykli soup is more satisfying and varied in composition. It includes katyk (fermented milk product), mung bean, vegetable or meat broth, fresh vegetables, herbs and spices. The combination of meat broth and fermented milk product in the soup gives a very unusual pleasant taste sensation.

Here are a few more varieties of Uzbek first courses that are definitely worth trying:

Moshubirinch - tomato-rice rich thick soup with mung bean and meat.

• Shopirma - soup made from flour, fat tail, milk, herbs. Atala soup is similar in recipe, but it does not include milk and a large amount of onion is added.

• Pieva - a soup made from fried vegetables and meat with lots of onions.

• Chalop is a cold soup that vaguely resembles okroshka. It is prepared on the basis of katyk (fermented milk product), herbs, cucumbers, radishes and hot red pepper.

• Kurtava is almost the same as chalop, but is prepared on the basis of kurt (a dry, salty fermented milk product).

Kakurum is slightly different in composition from kurtava, but is also prepared from katyk. The composition includes water, katyk, a lot of onions, red pepper and salt.

Main courses

One of the most revered and popular Uzbek main dishes is basma. Meat on the bone and spicy vegetables are simmered under pressure in a cauldron for a long time. It’s also clear from the aroma why Uzbek basma has found fame among many gourmets, and after the first spoon they fall in love with it forever.

Pilaf is associated with the cuisine of the Uzbek people. There are more than a thousand varieties of this, on the one hand, simple dish. Each eastern country prepares pilaf according to its own unique traditional recipes. By the way, a distinctive feature of Uzbek pilaf is the simultaneous heat treatment of meat and rice and the addition of absolutely identical quantities.

The preparation of pilaf is carried out by a special person, oshpaz which is translated from Uzbek as a pilaf cook. A professional in his field knows hundreds of pilaf recipes and can feed a huge company at once. Ordinary residents of Uzbekistan often consult with representatives of this respected profession and learn from their experience.

 Among the most popular types of Uzbek pilaf, there are recipes characteristic of individual regions.

Fergana pilaf. The most recognizable and canonical recipe is exactly how traditional pilaf is presented. To prepare it, brick-pink devzira rice, fatty lamb, yellow carrots, onions, hot peppers and garlic are used.

Samarkand pilaf. The peculiarity of the dish is the cooking and serving process: it is not mixed and laid out on a plate in layers. For preparation, pumpkin or sesame oil is used, and in addition to the classic ingredients, raisins and barberries are added, which gives the pilaf a special aroma.

Khorezm pilaf. One of the oldest recipes - prepared with a minimum of spices and oil. For cooking, use only yellow carrots and cut them not into classic strips, but into thin shavings along the root crop. It takes up to 8–10 hours to stew Khorezm pilaf, thanks to which the meat literally melts in your mouth.

Bukhara pilaf. This recipe has many ingredients: red carrots, nuts, dried fruits (prunes, dried apricots, dried apples, etc.). For preparation, a minimum of spices are used, since the emphasis is on dried fruits, but saffron is added to add flavor.

Tashkent pilaf. For cooking, laser rice, fat tail fat, raisins, chickpeas, chicken and quail eggs are used. The meat is placed in pilaf in one large piece. When serving, it is cut into portions. The dish is traditionally served with homemade lamb or horse meat sausage. There are many restaurants in Tashkent where you can try different types of pilaf.

Shavla is almost the same as pilaf, but in Uzbekistan it is usually considered a separate dish. The set of products is absolutely identical, the differences relate only to proportions and methods of heat treatment. If the products are put into pilaf in exactly the same quantities, then onions will predominate in the shawl. In shavla, the rice will be more boiled and sticky, and the dish itself will be more like porridge.

The method of serving and consumption also differs. Pilaf is traditionally served on a large flat dish for a group of people and eaten with hands, while shavla is served on plates in portions and consumed with cutlery. In restaurants, pilaf is served in traditional dishes and is usually consumed with cutlery.

Shish kebab (kabob) - in Uzbekistan it is prepared from young lamb or beef. Uzbek kebab differs from Caucasian kebab in that it is not prepared using pork; the meat is cut 2-3 times, smaller and placed on a skewer alternately with slices of lamb fat for juiciness. The classic marinade is water, onion, salt, pepper and spices. Authentic Uzbek kebab is prepared in many establishments in Tashkent. Different regions have their own unique recipes, but Gijduvan shish kebab, also known as kebab, holds the palm.

The meat is passed through a meat grinder, spices are added and frozen, then, without defrosting, it is passed through again 3-4 times. Classic set of spices: salt, pepper, cumin, coriander. Before frying, the minced meat is tightly placed on a rib-shaped skewer.

Kozon-kabob is a meat dish, the ingredients for which are fried in a cauldron. New potatoes and juicy meat are fried in fat tail fat at very high temperatures, at which ordinary oil will simply burn. The dish turns out to be very satisfying and high in calories.

An Uzbek dish with the atypical name pirozhok, which has nothing to do with the usual pirozhki, is incredibly popular. To prepare this dish, a cauldron is literally lined with fat tail fat, potatoes, meat and seasonings are laid out, and then simmered for a long time over low heat.

Dimlama is prepared in almost the same way, but the significant difference will be the cutting method. Vegetable slices are laid out in a cauldron in layers, and in addition to potatoes, a great variety of vegetables and a lot of onions are used to prepare dimlama.

Khonim is a steamed dumpling dough roll. This dish can easily be called dietary. Potatoes or meat are mainly used as filling for honim, but various variations can be found.

Other popular second courses of Uzbek cuisine:

• Yakhna-gusht - cold boiled meat. Served either with vegetables or as an addition to hot broth.
• Moshkichiri is a dish of fried meat, seasoned vegetables and mung beans.
• Dolma (in Uzbek) - minced lamb or beef with rice, egg, lots of onions and spices in grape leaves.
• Chuchvara - meat dumplings. A distinctive feature of Uzbek dumplings is their shape. Traditionally, the minced meat is placed not on round jugs, but on square ones. An egg and a lot of onion are added to the minced meat. Uzbek dumplings are served with homemade sauce made from sweet pepper, tomato, onion and spices.

Manti - steamed dough bags with minced meat and spices. The meat must be cut into pieces, and not minced, this is where the juiciness comes from. By the way, the bags must be hermetically sealed so that the broth does not spill out of them.

• Maida manti - smaller manti with potato filling.

It is impossible to count the main courses in Uzbek cuisine at once; they all have excellent taste. There is only one rule to remember: national cuisine will certainly contain a lot of onions. Side dishes are generally not common. Vegetables, legumes, and grains are cooked together with meat.

Salads and cold appetizers

Achchik-chuchuk is a salad made from fresh vegetables familiar to Russians (tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, hot peppers).