Lagman (similar to Lo-mein) falls right under the category of perfect, hand-made noodles that will please any child or adult with their softness and flavor. The broth of Lagman is rich, tasty and healthy. It is a Central-Asian dish, with the roots connecting to Chinese and Koren kitchens. There are multiple variations of this dish. I decided to start with the most simple one and gradually introduce you to more complicated ones. You just have to try it out! It might look a little complicated at first. But once you get used to the process, it will become a breeze, I promise! :)
Choosing what to cook is a very big task in my kitchen. Omar and Ozzy are exceptionally picky eaters. I do not know where they get that from, but it is definitely not from me or my husband. Every morning when I brainstorm about the daily menu, Omar pops-up in front of me and politely explains, that he again wants noodles-with-eggs-and-meat for his lunch, brunch and dinner! I should be happy that he is not refusing to eat altogether. So, to spice up his dinner, we always come up with different ideas of utilizing the dough, combining it with vegetable broth for some nutrition. Talking my son out of not eating eggs every day, is another big story!
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients for the dough:
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 3,5 cups all purpose flour
- 8 cups of water to cook the dough
- 2 Tbsp salt
- 2 Tbsp oil
Ingredients for the soup:
- 1/2 lb beef chuck (I use top round roast)
- 1/2 oil
- 1 medium onion
- 1 green bell pepper (I mostly use half yellow, half green pepper)
- 1 medium carrot
- 3 small potatoes
- 3 large cloves of garlic
- 1 medium tomato
- 1 tsp tomato paste (optional)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp salt
- 8 glasses of water
Directions for the dough:
In a medium bowl mix warm water, eggs, salt well. Add flour and knead the mixture for 10-15 minutes, creating a nice, springy dough.
Make the dough round and cover with a plastic wrap or with the container it was kneaded in. Let the dough rest for 15-20 minutes.
Directions for the soup:
Meanwhile, prepare the ingredients of the soup. Wash all of the vegetables. Cut onions in 1/4 inch half circles. Cut peppers in 1 inch thick strips.
Julienne carrots thinly. Peel the skin off potatoes, wash them and cut them in bigger cubes.
You can use minced garlic, but I prefer to chop it, because it tastes better that way. Slice the tomato thinly. Julienne the meat.
Pre-heat your Wok on high heat, add oil. Toss the julienned meat into the Wok and stir-fry until light-brown. Add the onions to the meat. Add spices (black pepper, cumin, salt) and stir fry until onions are golden in color.
Add the tomato, tomato paste and half of the chopped garlic. Mix everything well and stir-fry until tomatoes are nicely soft.
Add the remaining vegetables. Mix well and stir-fry for another 4 minutes. You are frying everything on high heat, so do not forget to keep stirring the ingredients. Otherwise, they might stick to the bottom of the Wok. Add water and turn the heat down to medium. Let the soup simmer for 40 minutes. Tip: I always pre-boil water for these kinds of soups. In about 20 minutes, add the remaining garlic:
Rolling the dough:
Boil water in a bigger container, add salt and keep it simmering until the dough is ready to be cooked.
Take out the dough and cut it in two equal portions. Keep one of them under the plastic wrap. Take out the other and roll it until you have a big, thin circle. Use flour generously to prevent the dough from sticking.
Sprinkle the flour on the dough one more time and roll the dough to the rolling pin loosely. Slide the rolling pin out from one end, creating a tube from the dough. With a sharp knife make 1/2 inch cuts on the tubed dough. Loosen the strips and stretch them out in order to have even, thin noodles. You can also cut the strips thinner than 1/2 inches.
Make sure the water is boiling. Carefully immerse the ready noodles in the water. Cook the noodles for 3 minutes. When time is up, take out the noodles and rinse them in cold water for 10 seconds.
Place the ready noodles in a container or a big dish, add 1 Tbsp of oil and evenly distribute it. This will prevent the noodles from sticking to each other. Continue with the second batch of the dough and use the remaining 1 Tbsp of oil for those noodles.
Add some noodles to a soup bowl (we use Uzbek traditional soup bowls) and simply pour the hot soup over the noodles and you are ready to go! Serve with your favorite herbs. I love it with scallions and my husband likes to add a little Sriracha hot sauce and a dash of vinegar.
Bon Apptetit!
If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments section below.
I always love your process photos, and these are definitely no exception. The noodles are beautiful. I think it’s so sweet that you make homemade noodles on a regular basis. I’m looking forward to your next version of lagman.
Thank you Memoria! Like one of my friends said the other day, we got used to it so much, that making home made noodles is like boiling hot water for cup of tea :) I grew up seeing my mother and all the ladies in the house making the noodles, until it was my turn to learn to work with the dough. Too bad I do not have a daughter to pass it all down. Hoping my sons will continue the tradition :D
This is great! I’m so glad that you post all of these wonderful Central Asian dishes, because I’m moving Kyrgyzstan in a few months. This gives me an opportunity to try these out before I get there!
Oh, Kristin! Your job is pretty tough. Why on earth are they sending you to Kyrgyzstan? I guess it is better than going to Iraq for sure. There are some amazing people down in Kyrgyzstan and the food is to die for :) I am sure you will like it. Just be careful. Once you get used to eating in US, you might get a slight food poisoning (or so they call) while trying to get adjusted to the new food. Produces are mostly organic and seasonal. You are going there in Spring, it is going to be beautiful!
Let me know if you have any questions about Kyrgyzstan. Which city are you going to be working at?
Beautiful photos of the cooking process. I’m from Kyrgyzstan and generally I’d agree that this is a very simple version of the dish…you forgot two key ingredients: djusai and turnip…these two additions will make the dish more authentic and I’m not sure if majority of cooks add cumin to this dish (definitely to plov)….Just wanted to add :)
I’m from Kyrgyzstan myself too. Lagman is my favorite food. We also use eggplant, besides turnip( or black radish). Djusai: I cannot find it in US, but I can substitute with chives( salted in water). Kindza also used in lagman.
Happy cooking!
Irina
what kind of oil do you use for this soup?
Elvira, I use canola oil religiously :D
i figured it was canola oil…i make the soup today followed your instructions exactly as written and also added some chopped celery…the soup is amazing..my husband is in love =] thanks! I also wanted to ask for a mashed potato recipe..how do you make yours?
Elvira, chopped celery in lagman is very yummy :)
I make 2 different types of mashed potatoes. Mainly it depends how much time I have. The easy one:
Clean and cut potatoes in very small pieces. Place them in the stove safe pot, cover the potatoes with water (2 inches above the potato surface)
Bring to boil and half cover the lid of the pot, turn the heat down to medium low. Let the potatoes simmer and get very soft. Once potatoes are soft enough to be mashed drain the water. Return the pot to the stove. Start adding milk. Add a small amount first and mash the potatoes. As you go along see if you need more milk to make the mashed potatoes thinner.
I also add 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream or 2 Tbsp of unsalted butter. Once everything is well incorporated and there are no big chunks of potatoes in your mixture add salt. Depending on how many potatoes you used the amount of salt will wary. Add as much as you think is appropriate.
You can also add some cheese, garlic to the ready mashed potatoes. Place it in the oven safe ramekins, lighty sprinkle with paprika and bake it for 20 min. in the oven :)
супер вкусный суп
как же все аппетитно снято, все, хочу лагман ))
Rena, spasibo bol’shoe! Dayte znat’ kakoy on u vas poluchitsya :)
Lola zdravstvuyte!
kak po povodu “chuzma” lagman. Kak mojno bistro i umelo nauchitsa rastyagivat’ nastoyawiy uygurskiy lagman?
Azizochka, cho’zma lagman mozhno nauchitsya delat’ ochen’ dazhe bistro. Na nedele, day bog, postavlyu ves’ process :)
Lola:
Thanks for the wonderful recipe. Lagman was a favorite meal during my visits to Kyrgyzstan. I cooked it for friends last weekend and they loved it-such a distinctive flavor. Of course the experience would not have been complete without the scrumptious Kyrgyz bread I prepared alongside.
Can’t wait to try the Funchoza tomorrow:-)
Phil
Oh WoW, Phil, you must be quite a cook! To took over lagman and Kyrgyz bread is a challenge :) Like they say, men are better cooks than women. I am sure it all came out super delicious! How did the funchoza turn out?
If you still haven’t tried it, instead of ground beef you can use julienned beef strips. The salad comes out even better like that.
Let me know if you need any help or suggestions. I will be glad to help you out!!!
Привет. написал про ваш сайт и про лагман Насиму привет.
http://mytashkent.uz/2010/03/11/lagman-by-lola-mansurov/
Spasibo vam bol’shoe!!! :) Nasim vam tozhe peredaet ogromenniy privet!!!!!
Лолочка как приготовлю обязательно поделюсь фоткой Ин ша Аллах
а пока, не поверишь, мясо нету ))
hahah, Rena tak v gosti priezzhayte!!!! U nas lagman poedite :)
Флоридага качон кучгани улгурдилар :) – http://mytashkent.uz/2010/03/11/lagman-by-lola-mansurov/
I like this noodles version, are totally similar to my mother’s noodles.
Thank you :)
Perfect!!! Ayniqsa, tepadagi rasmga gap yo’q!
Yoqimli ishtaha :)
rahmat, rahmat! Men bir do’stlarimga dumbullik, bulgori do’lmalik sho’rva qibermoqchidim. soklari qip qizil, mazasi shirin bo’lganidan :)
O’zim bilgancha ikki uc marta qilganmanu, shu professionallarcha reseptini yozbermessimi, shunga ko’ra tayyorlab ko’rardim. oldindan rahmat!
Thank you for posting this recipe. I am learning to cook some Kyrgyz dishes for my son who is adopted from Kyrgyzstan. This was a yummy recipe, although I fumble a bit with making the noodles. I do have one question, you mentioned 1/2 oil for the soup ingredient. Did you mean 1/2 cup or 1/2 tbsp? I put in around 1/4 cup in my dish because I used a lean cut of meat.
Ivy, I am deeply sorry for I am getting back to you so late :( It is indeed 1/2 cup of oil for the soup ingredients but 1/4 cup works as good. I am so happy that you adopted a little dude from Centrail Asia :) Please extend our regards to him and we welcome you to our house anytime you wish.
Love,
Lola
Bir narsa deyishga ojizman, rasmga qarab to`yishga harakat qivotman.
pishingde endi :D
QOYIL!!! GAP YUQ. MANAM XOZIR TAYYORLAB KURAMAN. RAHMAT SHUNAQA VAQTIZNI AYAMASDAN RETSEPLANI QUYGANIZ UCHUN. MAN BU SAYTNI ENDI KURDIM, LEKIN ENDI UNI “FAVORITE”GA QUYIB QUYAMAN.
Kattakon rahmat, Madina :D
Just spent some weeks in Central Asia and I’m very glad to find this recipe :)
I moved to Kyrgyzstan about two years ago and I have to go back to the United States for a year and I couldn’t imagine going there and not being able to eat Lagman often. While looking for recipes I found this one and although it isn’t exactly what I meant I am going to cook it for my large family of nine tonight. Everybody in my family is very picky though so I will not be making the soup but I am going to try the noodles plain. I’ll leave another comment tonight after I finish cooking and eating it. Thank you for the recipe.
For the dough it says 3,5 cups all purpose flour. Does that mean “3 to 5 cups” depending on the consistency? Or did you mean 3 1/2 cups of flour? Thanks for clarifying!
DO you have a recipy of covurma lagman?
Thank you
Thank you so much form the recipe. I was shopping and thought, I should make lagman. Have not cooked it for ages and forgot the recipe of the soup :) Sure enough I bought everything I need (passive memory works good). Nevertheless your site helped me to recollect the whole recipe again.
I grew up in Uzbekistan, my mom was the best cook. She used to make lagman, besh barmak, shurpa… My brother in law is the best plov (pallow) cook.
But most of all I liked to read the comments. They are refreshing my Uzbek language.
Zur rahmat sizga.
Spasibo vam ogromnoe za fotografii, o4en’ udobno, kogda ves’ process illyustriruetsya v fotografiyah.
I am from Kyrgyzstan, living abroad, and I go home during my summer holidays. During those 3 months I eat a lot of those dishes, like boso-lagman, gyuro-lagman, ashlyam-fu, besh-barmak etc . I started cooking just recently, now that my parents are away, I wanted to try and cook lagman myself. With hand-made noodles , ofcourse. Lagman is yummy, thank you for this recipe I hope mine will come out as tasty as yours looks like. I’ll just change one thing – I just saw a video of how cooking hand-pulled noodles for lagman, I’ll try to put the noddles in oil and pull them to make them even, thin and round in diameter. Ochen’ appetitno vyglyadit spasibo vam
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. My Uzbek husband took his first taste and right away, he smiled and said “it tastes like real lagman soup”. Our son loved it, too! You truly made me happy and now I know my husband has hope that I can cook Uzbek food like his mother! Please share more Uzbek recipes.
ЗДРАВСТВУЙТЕ,ЛОЛА МАНСУРОВА..ВЫ ПОЛНОСТЬЮ МОЯ ТЕСКА.. ПРИЯТНО ВИДЕТЬ ВАС И ОЧЕНЬ ВКУСНО РАССКАЗЫВАЕТЕ..
This is one of the most amazing things I have ever eaten! My noodles are a bit thick and rustic and still need practice though. I top it with Chinese sweet vinegar, and it’s become one of my favourite meals, thank you for posting it.
I am an American who travels to and from Central Asia quite a bit… Lag’mon is one of my favorite dishes ever, and though I can do it there with the help of a native friend, I always struggle to recreate it in the U.S. This is a great version, though I’m used to seeing round noodles.
Rahmat sizga,
Alyssa
Do you have a non recipe by chance??
Hi Lola, Thank you so much for your amazing recipes and easy to follow directions, I love your style, I made this recipe and it was exactly if not better than the ones I ate at restaurants!!! ill be honest though I bought ready dough, maybe next time I’ll make it. I have tried a number of your recipes and not one has been a disappointment!!! Thank you so much and I hope you keep doing what your doing!
Lola, thank you so much! I found your recipe some time ago, but made it only last night. It turned out lovely! I only made a few changes:
-used 1/4 cup of canola oil,
-2 bell peppers (one of which was a hot pepper),
-2 potatoes only,
-couldn’t find a turnip (otherwise would’ve added one :),
and finally, my personal preference is cilantro for the herb.
Thank you so much for the dough recipe, eggs definitely help, next time I’ll try to see if one is sufficient. I lowered the salt to 1 Tbsp, and instead added some in the water. No clue why I did so! :D
Lovely recipe, great memories, especially of the fettuccine that looked exactly like my mother’s! Hoping for more great recipes!!!
Thank you very much for wonderful recipes of Uzbekistan’s cuisine. Please post more native recipes!
Hi!
I am an american but grew up in Kazakhstan where I have eaten many different types of Lagman. Two thing you did not add in your recipe that gives a very specific taste to the broth are vinegar and star of anise. Most people do not know what star of anise is, i knew what it was but did not know the english name for it, it comes in a powder or in a little star shaped it smells like licorice. Otherwise your recipe looks amazing and I love the pictures! Very jealous of your beautiful Uzbek bowls, did you get them in Uzbekistan? Where are you from? :)
Made this for my family tonight. I acquired a taste for lagman in Kazakhstan. This was great! I’ll admit that I used store bought noodles though.
Great recipie, thanks for sharing!
Very detailed, thank you, I will try it out this weekend :)