Lagman is one of the most delicious dishes of national Uzbek cuisine. This dish is made with simple products, but chef’s hands turn them into a real masterpiece of culinary art. Where has lagman originated and what country owns a right to call the dish its national is a controversial question. The roots of its originations go back to the ancient China, but the recipe had been changing and supplementing under the influence of the culture of Uighurs, Dungans and other nationalities.
One legend is usually associated with the “creation” of lagman. Once, three hungry travelers met. One had only a kazan, the other had some flour and dried meat, third - radish and fragrant spices. One traveler was a pupil of the master of culinary arts, so he decided to cook a dish with “whatever they had”. The smell of the dish that was being cooked attracted the attention of the passing by Chinese magnate. He was the first who tasted this new dish and, speaking in modern language, patented it by decree – to cook the dish always!
As the matter of fact, the lagman is Central Asian spaghetti with the addition of meat, greens, spices, and broth. Noodles shall be cooked by hand at home.
In Uzbekistan, two main types of lagman are widespread; these are Uigur chuzma-lagman (stretching lagman) and Uzbek kesma-lagman (cut lagman).Uzbek lagman is cooked differently in each region of the country. It is very exciting to observe the process of lagman cooking. As a rule, men roll the noodles (for Uiguк Lagman), first the long rolls of dough are to be made and then these rolls are to be rolled out. Skillful cooks are doing it clean and skillful – long rolls of dough are to be wrapped around the spread hands (as yarn, which shall be tangled into the ball), then master begin tossing it up, spreading the hands wider, stretching the dough rolls up to the thin noodles.
In Uzbekistan, two main types of lagman are widespread; these are Uigur chuzma-lagman (stretching lagman) and Uzbek kesma-lagman (cut lagman).Uzbek lagman is cooked differently in each region of the country. It is very exciting to observe the process of lagman cooking. As a rule, men roll the noodles (for Uiguк Lagman), first the long rolls of dough are to be made and then these rolls are to be rolled out. Skillful cooks are doing it clean and skillful – long rolls of dough are to be wrapped around the spread hands (as yarn, which shall be tangled into the ball), then master begin tossing it up, spreading the hands wider, stretching the dough rolls up to the thin noodles.
There is another method of noodles cooking, when thin rolled out dough is to be cut into the long strips as any other home-made noodles. This is Uzbek Lagman.
In the most recipes of lagman the ordinary dough, made of flour, water, salt, eggs, although not all cooks use the egg (the dough without it is softer), some also add vinegar, is used.
It’s hard to call lagman the first dish, but it is also too liquid to be served as the second. It is very nutritious - one portion of the lagman can kill hunger for a long time.
