Kyrgyzstan

🇰🇬Kyrgyzstan

Airag

Айраг

Mare's milk fermented in a leather or plastic churn and stirred thousands of times, ending mildly alcoholic, fizzy and sharply sour.

🇰🇬Jalal-Abad, Kyrgyzstan

Arslanbob Walnuts

Арстанбап жаңгагы

Walnuts from the wild walnut forest above Arslanbob in Jalal-Abad, the largest naturally occurring walnut stand in the world.

🇰🇬Karakol, Kyrgyzstan

Ashlyamfu

Ашлямфу

Cold dish of wheat noodles and slippery starch jelly in a chilli-and-vinegar broth, topped with egg crêpe strips and a spoonful of hot oil.

🇰🇿Kazakhstan

Baursak

Бауырсақ

Baursak is Kazakh fried yeast dough that puffs and turns golden, served with tea, soups, or main courses.

🇦🇱Prizren, Albania

Boza

Боза

A thick, tangy, and slightly sweet fermented drink made from millet, wheat, or bulgur. With ancient roots in Central Asia, boza is traditionally consumed in winter, sold by street vendors whose calls echo through neighborhoods at night. It is topped with cinnamon and roasted chickpeas (leblebi) and has a low alcohol content of about one percent.

🇰🇬Kyrgyzstan

Byzhy

Бижи

Sheep's blood mixed with rice or barley, milk and fat and packed into intestine, boiled and sliced thick.

🇰🇬Kyrgyzstan

Chalpak

Чалпак

Soft discs of dough fried flat until puffed, served hot with cream, honey, or jam at breakfast.

🇹🇲Turkmenistan

Chuchvara

Чучвара

Chuchvara is an Uzbek boiled dumpling filled with minced meat and spices, served in clear broth or with sour cream.

🇰🇬Uzgen, Kyrgyzstan

Devzira Rice

Девзира

A red-brown rice from the Fergana valley whose grains hold a groove of pink bran, grown around Uzgen and prized for plov because it swells without breaking.

🇰🇬Kyrgyzstan

Dried Apricots

Өрүк

Apricots sun-dried whole with the stone still in, dark brown rather than orange because no sulphur is used.

🇰🇬Kyrgyzstan

Dymdama

Дымдама

Meat and layered vegetables — potato, carrot, cabbage, tomato — sealed in a heavy pot and steamed in their own liquid with no added water.

🇰🇬Kyrgyzstan

Ganfan

Ганфан

Dungan dish of rice under a separate stir-fry of meat, wood-ear fungus, peppers and green beans, ladled over at the last moment.

🇰🇬Kyrgyzstan

Green Tea

Чойи сабз

Green tea is poured in small bowls and repeatedly returned to the pot so the brew cools and mixes before it is served.

🇰🇿Kazakhstan

Karta

Қарта

A Kazakh boiled horse intestine dish

🇰🇬Kyrgyzstan

Kattama

Каттама

Dough rolled thin, brushed with fat or fried onion, coiled and flattened again, then pan-fried so it separates into flaky layers.

🇹🇷Turkey

Kaymak

Қаймақ

Thick clotted cream, essential for breakfasts and desserts.

🇰🇿Kazakhstan

Kazy

Қазы

Horse-rib meat and fat are packed into a natural casing, then salted, smoked or boiled, and sliced into rich coins.

🇰🇬Kyrgyzstan

Kesme

Кесме

Hand-cut square noodles boiled in a mutton and vegetable broth, a thick everyday soup of the highland villages.

🇰🇬Kyrgyzstan

Komoch Nan

Көмөч нан

Bread baked directly in the ashes of a hearth or under a cast-iron lid buried in embers, coming out dense with a scorched crust.

🇰🇬Kyrgyzstan

Koroz

Кароз

Boiled sugar pulled and cut into hard, cloudy sweets, wrapped in twists of paper and put out for guests with tea.

🇰🇬Kyrgyzstan

Kuiruk Boor

Куйрук боор

Boiled fat-tail and liver sliced thin and served together in a milk-and-onion sauce, given to the most honoured guest at a feast.

🇰🇿Kazakhstan

Kurt

Құрт

Salted sour milk is strained, shaped into firm pieces, and dried into a tangy travel cheese.

🇰🇿Kazakhstan

Kuyrdak

Қуырдақ

Heart, liver, kidneys, onion, and pepper are browned together into a rich Kazakh offal dish served hot from the pan.

🇰🇬Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyz Mountain Honey

Тоо балы

Honey from hives moved up to alpine meadows in summer, often near-white and setting to a fine paste, from Suusamyr and the Ak-Talaa valleys.

🇨🇳Xinjiang, China

Lagman

Lag'mon

Lagman is a Uyghur and Central Asian noodle dish built from hand-pulled strands served with meat, peppers, onions, and tomato in a savoury broth or sauce.

🇰🇿Kazakhstan

Manty

Мәнті

Manty are Kazakh steamed dumplings filled with minced lamb or beef, onions, and spices, served with kaymak.

🇰🇬Tashkent, Kyrgyzstan

Naryn

Нарын

Boiled horse meat and fat shredded by hand and tossed through thin sheets of noodle with raw onion, served cool with a bowl of broth.

🇹🇯Tajikistan

Non

Round flatbread baked against the wall of a tandoor, stamped with a centre pattern and served with nearly every meal.

🇰🇬Kyrgyzstan

Olobo

Олобо

Sheep's lung filled through the windpipe with milk, butter and salt, then boiled until the whole thing sets firm and is cut into slices.

🇰🇬Kyrgyzstan

Oromo

Оромо

A sheet of thin dough spread with minced meat, potato and onion, rolled into a long coil and steamed in a stacked manty pot, then cut into rounds.

🇰🇿Kazakhstan

Plov

Плов

A Kazakh rice pilaf with meat, carrots, onions, and spices, a daily and festive classic

🇰🇿Kazakhstan

Samsa

Самса

Samsa is a Kazakh tandoor-baked pastry filled with meat, onions, or pumpkin, with a browned shell surrounding a juicy interior.

🇰🇿Kazakhstan

Shalap

Шалап

A Kazakh cold yogurt drink with water, salt, and herbs, a summer and daily classic

🇰🇬Kyrgyzstan

Shalgam

Шалгам

Radish or turnip cut into matchsticks and dressed with vinegar, oil and chilli, served cold as a bazaar snack and a vodka chaser.

🇦🇲Armenia

Shashlik

Шашлық

Shashlik is marinated meat grilled on skewers with onion and rendered fat, a shared Eurasian form rather than a single national dish.

🇰🇬Kyrgyzstan

Shubat

Шұбат

Fermented camel's milk, thick and white with a clean sourness and a faint natural fizz.