Lagman

About This Recipe

Lagman is one of the most fascinating culinary artifacts of the Silk Road, with clear connections to Chinese lamian (hand-pulled noodles) — the word 'lagman' is itself derived from the Chinese. It arrived in Central Asia via the Uyghur people of Xinjiang and became embedded in Uzbek, Kyrgyz, and Kazakh cuisines. The hand-stretching technique for the noodles requires practice but produces a texture that no dried pasta can replicate. The broth (värvä) is thick, sauce-like rather than soup-like, and gets its depth from the Dungan chili paste that Uyghur cooks introduced. Lagman is eaten as both a dry stir-fried dish and a soup.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 500 gall-purpose flour
• 200 mlwater
• 1 tspsalt(for dough)
• 400 glamb shoulder(thinly sliced)
• 2 mediumbell peppers(sliced)
• 2 mediumtomatoes(chopped)
• 2 mediumonions(sliced)
• 3 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 1 mediumeggplant(cubed)
• 2 tbspvegetable oil
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1 tspchili flakes
• 1 tspsalt(for broth)
• 500 mlwater or lamb stock

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Mix flour, water, and salt into a stiff dough. Knead 10 minutes until smooth. Rest 30 minutes covered.

2. 2

   Pull the noodles

   Divide dough into ropes. Stretch each rope by pulling and slapping it against the table, progressively thinning it until noodle-thin. Coil on an oiled surface.

3. 3

   Make the sauce

   Fry lamb in oil until browned. Add onion, garlic, peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes. Add cumin, chili, and salt. Pour in stock and simmer 20 minutes.

4. 4

   Cook the noodles

   Boil noodles in salted water for 3–4 minutes. Drain.

5. 5

   Serve

   Place noodles in bowls. Ladle the lamb and vegetable sauce over the top.

Variations

• •

  Serve 'kosorma' style — dry-fried without broth

• •

  Use beef instead of lamb

• •

  Vegetarian: swap the protein for roasted king oyster mushrooms, smoked tofu or cooked chickpeas — adjust seasoning slightly upward to compensate.

• •

  Spicier: add a finely chopped fresh chile or a teaspoon of crushed Aleppo/Urfa pepper to the aromatics for warm, layered heat instead of a single sharp hit.

Storage

Store sauce and noodles separately. Sauce keeps 3 days. Cook noodles fresh.

Frequently Asked Questions