Lagman is a favorite dish of most of the inhabitants of Uzbekistan; it is also widespread in the territory of Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan, in Japan and China. On a regular menu, Russian housewives can find it very rarely, but in vain, because the dish is very hearty, tasty, fragrant.
You can’t say exactly what a lagman is - a soup or a second dish. He is so satisfying, in general, can replace the whole lunch. After all, there are enough calories in it, there are meat, and vegetables, and homemade noodles, and waja (gravy).
Let's plunge into history before we get to know the classic Lagman recipe and its variations.
History reference
There are a huge number of lagman variations, and each of them is tasty and unique in its own way. There is an assumption that the dish came to us from China, there is also a legend that tells about the emergence of this wonderful dish.
Legend has it: three travelers stopped at the crossroads of two roads. They walked for a long time, from nowhere and no one knew where, each of them had their own goal, but something was common. Hunger made them stop at the crossroads. They did not know how to saturate themselves, but everyone had something in reserve. The first traveler came with a Chinese frying pan (wok), the second had a piece of meat and a handful of flour, and the third carried vegetables with him. It was radish and spices. One of the travelers was a cook's apprentice, and he offered to cook a dish of what is in order to get enough and continue his long journey. Everyone trusted him, and when the dish was ready, their taste struck. It contained moderately spices, meat, flour and vegetables, it was very satisfying and tasty.
While they were having a meal, a Chinese rich man passed by, he stopped and tried what the travelers ate. He did this, not because he was hungry, but because he felt how beautiful the aroma was from the dish. He really liked the dish, and the rich man offered to sell this dish in all Chinese cities.
It is believed that this is a dish of indigenous Dungans that inhabited the territory of ancient China at that time. And due to the migration of this people, their national dish spread and became a favorite among all the peoples of East Asia and beyond.
Meat selection
Before you cook the lagman, let's find out what meat you need to buy.
At the moment, the lagman is considered the national dish of Uzbekistan. The peoples of this territory are famous for growing sheep, so often lamb is used in all dishes. But beef is also popular there, especially soups with it. So we will share the recipe for beef lagman.
But back to the classic recipe. When choosing meat, pay attention that it is young and juicy, because the lagman should be appetizing, fragrant and satisfying. Any part of the carcass will do, but the meat should have a small greasy layer.
Essential Ingredients
The classic Uzbek lagman is made from homemade noodles and waji. To make noodles you will need:
- Flour - 5 glasses.
- Vegetable oil - 200 ml.
- Eggs - 4 pcs.
- Salt - 2 tsp.
And for waji you will need:
- Meat - 500 g.
- Sweet pepper - 6 pcs.
- Tomatoes - 5 pcs.
- Onion - 4 pcs.
- Carrots - 3 pcs.
- Turnip - 1 pc.
- Garlic - 1 pc.
- Beans - 150 g.
- Fat or oil - 170 ml.
- Spices, salt, jusai and herbs.
So how to cook lagman? Cooking lagman begins with noodles. It is preparing hard, as it is difficult to knead, the dough is dense and thick.
Noodles
Noodles are cooked for a long time, several hours, so cooking this dish requires a lot of time.
Knead the dough with eggs, flour, butter and water. Knead the dough thoroughly, do not be lazy. Form a ball or a thick cake from the dough and cover it with a towel, it should stand for a couple of hours.
After two hours, knead the dough well. For the Uzbek lagman, roll the dough into a rope, twist it and lay it on the bottom of a wide bowl, grease it with plenty of vegetable oil and cover for half an hour.
Roll the tourniquet and cut into pieces no more than 2-3 cm wide. Roll them into bundles of 15-20 cm, lay again and grease them, leave for half an hour.
Stretch the noodles, pull the end with one hand, and roll a thin flagellum with the other. After folding the flagella and beat off the table, this will give them a uniform width.
The noodles should not turn out to be too thick, since during cooking it will swell, but should not break, should be dense and elastic.
Below is a video that shows the process of making homemade noodles.
The noodle for the lagman is ready. It remains only to boil it. We postpone this process until the second part of the lagman is ready, the noodles cook only 3-4 minutes.
If there are a lot of noodles, grease it with oil and put it in a container, it will be perfectly stored in the refrigerator.
Waja
As we already said, the classic lagman recipe uses lamb, but we will tell you how to cook lagman from several types of meat. For example, from beef, chicken and pork.
Uzbek lagman
Cut vegetables: onion rings, carrots and radish into slices of one and a half centimeters, pepper strips. Peel the tomatoes and cut them into cubes. Grind jusai and beans. Coarsely chop the garlic. For a pungent taste, you can toss one chili pepper.
Mutton
Separate the meat from the bones, cut into long strips. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry over a fire until a crispy crust appears, the fat should melt and all excess water should come out.
In a container, deep pan or pan, add meat, all vegetables, add spices and stir everything over high heat.
Add water and close the container. When the water boils, reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add salt, jusai, other favorite herbs and garlic, stir. Remove from heat after 3-5 minutes.
Beef Lagman
Eggplant works well with beef lagman, be sure to try stewing it with vegetables. Before cooking, eggplant must be cut into circles and soaked for half an hour to leave the bitterness.
Beef
Since beef is very hard meat, boil it before frying. You can boil the meat as a whole, and then chop and fry, and cook already chopped.
Put the beef in a pan and fry over high heat for several minutes, then add a little broth to the pan and simmer.
Stew eggplant with onions separately for about half an hour, so that they are soft and not bitter, add vegetables. So that the broth does not disappear, fill the vegetables with beef broth instead of water. So it will be more satisfying. Add your favorite spices to beef. Such a recipe for beef lagman can be prepared by everyone in their kitchen.
Lagman in Russian
Russian lagman called lagman with pork. Since pork is not eaten in Muslim countries, the dish with it is not common in the "native" territory. But fatty pork is an excellent ingredient for a hearty, hearty meal.
For volume, potatoes are often added to the Russian version of lagman.
Pork
Choose meat not with a very large sebaceous layer, without bone. You can pickle pork in advance, or send it to the pan raw. Excellent marinade in onions with vinegar or mayonnaise and spices. The meat is very tender and incredibly juicy, with a unique aroma and flavor of spices.
Lagman with Chicken
Lagman with chicken is the easiest option, as chicken breast is the most dietary meat that can be used.
Fatty veins cut, cut into pieces. The white chicken meat is a bit dry, so that the chicken lagman is juicy, marinate the slices of the breast. Chicken will have enough hours to soak in your favorite marinade.
Meat is cooked quickly in a pan, so the dish rightfully deserves the title of the fastest lagman.
You can speed up lagman cooking with shop noodles.
Serving dishes
Fill a deep plate with boiled noodles half and fill with meat broth. Put vaja and juice from stewed vegetables on top. To taste, add some favorite spices and sprinkle with herbs (dill, parsley).
Secrets of a successful lagman
So we told how to cook lagman. This is a delicious, hearty meal for the whole family. To make your dish great, in the end we will leave you some simple tips for cooking a lagman at home.
- The ideal container for cooking lagman is a cauldron. It has a convenient form for cooking.
- Try not to digest vegetables. They can lose their taste, so it’s better to be solid, but with a natural taste.
- So that the dough does not stick to your hands, periodically moisten your hands in salt water.
- Experiment with vegetables by adding your favorites to your liking.
- Spices decorate the taste of lagman. Pay attention to what spices are suitable for your chosen meat. Universal spices for lagman are onion, cumin, cloves, coriander, black pepper.
Here is such a juicy, mouth-watering, satisfying dish, we have succeeded. Cooking a lagman takes enough time, but the result is worth it.