Beshbarmak
A hearty Kazakh dish made with cooked meat, homemade noodles and freshly-cooked broth. Served with or without broth.
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 836kcal
Ingredients
Meat and Broth
- 1kg Beef meat (fresh or frozen)
- 1kg Beef soup bones (fresh or frozen)
- 485g Beef marrow bones (fresh or frozen)
- Water, at leatst 5 Quarts (5 liters) I usually add more for lots of leftover broth
- 1 Medium onion
- 1 Bay leaf (more if very small)
- 1 tsp Black peppercorns
- 2 tbsp Salt (or to taste)
Dough for Noodles
- 1 cup (284ml) Boiled water, cooled
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 Egg
- 3 ½ – 4 cups (437-500g) All-purpose flour
Serving Beshbarmak
- 1 medium onion, finely sliced
- Pasley for garnish optional
- Green onion for garnish optional
Instructions
Meat and Broth
- Add the bones and the meat to a big soup pot, fill with water and bring to a boil. OPTIONAL: Once the water comes to a boil, pour it out, fill the pot with fresh water and bring to a boil again. This gets rid of impurities in the meat.
- Using a slotted spoon or a fine mesh sieve, remove the foamy scum from the water as the meat cooks. Add the salt at this stage as it makes the impurities come out faster.
- Once the soup is mostly clear of the scum and is simmering, add the whole onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, and peppercorn. Reduce the heat to low and let the broth simmer for about 3 hours.
- Once the meat is fully cooked, remove from heat, but keep in the broth and covered until ready to serve.
- Once ready to serve, remove the meat onto a separate platter and shred into smaller pieces.
Dough and Noodles
- While the meat is cooking, Mix water and salt in a big bowl until salt is dissolved. Add the egg and beat a little in the water.
- Start off by adding 3 ½ cups flour. Mix everything together until a good dough forms that doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl. If the dough is still very sticky, add some more flour (See Note 1).
- Knead the dough until a smooth ball forms. Cover and set aside.
- Once ready, cut off a portion of the dough and roll it out thinly on a well-floured surface.
- Using a knife, cut the dough into rectangles. Transfer to a well-floured surface and keep covered until ready to cook.
- Keep rolling out more portions of the dough and cutting until all dough is used up or the desired amount is made.
Serving Beshbarmak Individual Portions
- Using a fine mesh sieve, strain some of the broth into a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer.
- Add the finished noodles and cook for about 1-2 minutes or until ready.
- Toss in some of the sliced fresh onion. Cook for about 30 seconds.
- Transfer the cooked noodles and onion to a bowl, top with shredded meat, and pour the broth over the noodles.
- Sprinkle with chopped parsley or green onion for garnish (optional).
- Serve.
Serving Beshbarmak Traditionally
- Alternatively, cook all the noodles at once in a big pot, adding the sliced onion at the end. Transfer to a big platter.
- Add all the shredded meat. Pour a bit of the broth over the noodles and meat and sprinkle with parsley and/or onion. Serve extra broth on the side.
Notes
Note 1: Making Dough - All flours are different, so start off with using 3 1/2 cups, then add more if needed. It’s easier to add more flour, than to make the dough stickier again. If your dough does come out too hard, you can still save it. Let the dough sit for a bit, then poke little indentations into the dough. Add some water into those indentations and let dough rest. Then knead the dough. Repeat the process as oft as needed.
Note 2: If serving Beshbarmak individually for each person, don't make all the dough at once. Only make enough for each person. Store the leftover dough covered in the fridge until ready to make more.
Note 3: Leftovers - If you make all the dough at once, store covered in the fridge and re-heat the next day along with the meat and extra broth. If making individual portions, store everything separately, covered in the fridge. The meat can be stored in the broth and re-heated the next day.
Note 4: Servings - in my experience these amounts will comfortably serve 6 people as meat and noodles are generally filling. It might be less or more depending on how much of everything people will eat.
Note 5: There will usually be leftover broth. Refrigerate or freeze (for longer storage) to use later in soups or sauces.