lagman
Laghman
Laghman came to us from the Uyghur and Dungan cooks. The best plate I ever ate was at a little café on the Kyrgyz side of the road to Bishkek, on a trip with my sister. The cook’s wife pulled the noodles to order, swinging them through the air like ribbons, and the sauce was glossy and red.
Pulling takes practice, so please be gentle with yourself. The first time you’ll get thick ones and thin ones, and they’ll still be delicious. Mine were a mess for a whole winter.
Ingredients servings
- Noodles
- 500 gplain or bread flour
- 250 mlwater
- 1 tspsalt
- 0.5 tspbaking soda dissolved in 2 tbsp water
- ·oil for coating
- Sauce
- 400 gbeef or lamb, in thin strips
- 3 tbspoil
- 1 onion, sliced
- 2 bell peppers, in strips
- 2 celery stalks, sliced
- 0.25 small white cabbage, shredded
- 150 gdaikon radish, in strips
- 3 tomatoes, chopped, or 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 400 mlbeef broth
- 1 tspcumin
- 1 tbspsoy sauce
- ·salt, chilli flakes, a splash of vinegar
Method
- Knead the flour, water and salt for 10 minutes. Rest 20 minutes, then knead in the soda water a little at a time until the dough is very smooth and elastic. Rest 1 hour covered.
- Roll the dough into finger-thick ropes, coat with oil, coil on a plate and rest 30 minutes more.
- Make the sauce: in a very hot pan, fry the meat in the oil until browned. Add the onion, then the peppers, celery, radish and cabbage, and stir-fry 5 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, garlic, cumin and soy, then the broth. Simmer 15 minutes. Season with salt, chilli and vinegar.
- Pull the noodles: take a rope by both ends, stretch gently while bouncing it on the counter, fold in half, and stretch again until thin. Drop into boiling salted water and cook 2–3 minutes.
- Drain, rinse briefly, and serve in deep bowls with plenty of sauce on top.
From my kitchenIf pulling defeats you, thick spaghetti or Chinese wheat noodles work for the sauce.
With love from my kitchen to yours,Jibek
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