Kazakh Beshbarmak with Boiled Lamb, Wide Noodles and Onion Sorpa Broth

Start the broth: place the lamb pieces in a large heavy stockpot and cover with the 3 litres of cold water. Bring slowly to a boil and, for the first 15 minutes, skim off every bit of grey foam that rises — clear broth is a point of Kazakh pride.

Ingredients

• For the meat and broth (serves 6):
• 1.2 kg (2.6 lb) bone-in lamb shoulder and ribs, cut into large pieces — traditional adds horse meat or beef brisket
• 3 litres cold water
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 black peppercorns
• 2 whole allspice berries
• 1 medium onion, peeled and left whole
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and left whole
• 2 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste
• For the noodles (kespe):
• 400g (3 cups) all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
• 2 large eggs
• 120ml (1/2 cup) warm water
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• For the onion topping (the soul of the dish):
• 3 large yellow onions, very thinly sliced into rings
• 2 ladlefuls of the hot lamb broth
• Plenty of freshly cracked black pepper
• To finish:
• Small bunch fresh dill and flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• Hot sorpa broth, served separately in cups (kese)

Instructions

1. Start the broth: place the lamb pieces in a large heavy stockpot and cover with the 3 litres of cold water. Bring slowly to a boil and, for the first 15 minutes, skim off every bit of grey foam that rises — clear broth is a point of Kazakh pride.
2. Once the foam stops rising, add the whole onion, whole carrot, bay leaves, peppercorns, allspice and salt. Reduce to the gentlest simmer, partially cover, and cook 2 to 2.5 hours, until the lamb is meltingly tender and pulls easily from the bone.
3. Make the noodle dough while the meat cooks: mound the flour on a board, make a well, and add the eggs, salt and warm water. Bring together and knead firmly for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Wrap and rest at room temperature for at least 40 minutes.
4. Roll and cut the noodles: divide the dough into four pieces. Roll each as thin as possible on a well-floured surface — almost translucent. Let the sheets dry 10 minutes, then cut into wide rectangles roughly 8cm by 10cm. Dust with flour and keep separate so they don't stick.
5. When the lamb is tender, lift it out onto a plate and tent loosely with foil. Strain the broth through a fine sieve into a clean pot — discard the spent vegetables and spices. Taste the broth and adjust the salt; this is now your sorpa.
6. Make the onion topping: put the thinly sliced onion rings in a wide bowl. Ladle over two generous spoonfuls of the hot strained broth, add a heavy crack of black pepper, cover with a plate and let the onions steam-soften for 10 minutes until silky and translucent but not raw.
7. Cook the noodles: bring a wide portion of the sorpa broth to a brisk simmer in a shallow pan. Slide in the wide noodle rectangles in batches and cook 4-5 minutes, until tender and slippery. Lift out with a slotted spoon.
8. Pull the lamb off the bone into large bite-sized pieces while still warm, discarding bone and excess fat.
9. Assemble on one large round communal platter, Kazakh-style: spread the wide cooked noodles across the whole platter as a glistening base. Pile the tender lamb pieces over the noodles in the centre.
10. Crown the whole platter with the broth-softened onion rings and all their peppery liquid, then shower with chopped dill and parsley.
11. Serve at once, set in the middle of the table for everyone to share, with cups of the hot sorpa broth alongside to sip between mouthfuls. Beshbarmak — literally 'five fingers' — is the national dish of Kazakhstan and is eaten exactly that way: with the hands, from the shared platter, no cutlery. It is the centrepiece of every Kazakh celebration, from weddings and the spring Nauryz festival to the welcoming of guests, where the most honoured person at the table is offered the 'tos' (breast meat) or, at the grandest feasts, the boiled sheep's head to carve and share. The dish is a direct inheritance from the nomadic herders of the Kazakh steppe, who for centuries lived on the meat and milk of their flocks; the wide noodles and the clear meat broth turn a single boiled animal into a generous meal for a whole extended family. To be served beshbarmak in a Kazakh home is to be told, without a word, that you are welcome, respected and among friends.