First, let's try to figure out what this lagman is. This is a Central Asian dish. Most likely of Chinese origin. Lagman has Tajik, Uzbek, Dungan and other varieties, which differ from each other in fairly minor variations.
But first, a few words about who the Dungans are. According to Wikipedia, this people live in Kyrgyzstan, in the south of Kazakhstan, in Uzbekistan, and almost 10 million live in China. So it's no surprise that their cuisines are similar.
But back to the lagman. Lagman consists of a meat and vegetable (this is its basis) part - waji and hand-cooked noodles. The latter in lagman always plays the role of the most important distinguishing feature of this dish. In Dungan (or in the so-called "real lagman") only drawn noodles are used, but not rolled or cut noodles. The use of pasta, vermicelli and other industrial pasta in the preparation of lagman will only imitate this dish outwardly, but will completely change its character.
Waju and noodles are cooked separately and then combined into one dish. Lagman is traditionally served in deep kasas rather than simple deep bowls, arranging the layers of this dish alternately: a layer of vaji, a layer of noodles, and on top it is poured with gravy and sprinkled with cilantro and dill.
Now a little about the ingredients that are hardly familiar to everyone. Jusai is a plant of the onion family, which looks like a green onion and has all the properties of both onions and garlic; widely used in Dungan cuisine; and choho is such a special seasoning for lagman.
To cook Dungan lagman, you will need:
meat (beef, lamb) - 0.4 kg
homemade noodles
onions - 3-4 pcs.
paprika - 1-2 pcs.
carrots - 1 pc.
green radish - 1 pc.
tomato paste - 2 tbsp.
jusai - to taste
cilantro or choho - to taste
garlic - to taste
salt, black pepper - to taste
red pepper - to taste
How to cook lagman in Dungan style:
1. The meat is cut into small cubes, and then fried until golden brown (if your meat is harsh, then it will need to be stewed in a small amount of water until it is completely evaporated).
2. Then, along with the meat, the onion is fried. Salt to taste.
3. Cut all the vegetables that we have into strips.
4. Put carrots, peppers, spices, jusai and lastly put the radish (the radish is added last, because if it does not lie on top, then there is every chance that it will be boiled corny).
5. Put 2 tablespoons of tomato paste.
6. I fried all the vegetables over high heat, while stirring them often.
7. Now add water, add salt, pepper, and cook for another 15-20 minutes.
8. If desired, you can add greens.
9. We cook the noodles ourselves. Boiled noodles are kept in boiling water for 1-2 minutes before serving, and then laid out on a plate.
Dungan noodles are the traditional basis for a juicy, dense, satisfying and fragrant lagman. You can not buy it in the store, because cooking at home is not difficult. By the way, you can cook and serve Dungan noodles as an independent dish, supplementing it with sauce, seafood or meat. There are a huge number of variations of recipes that allow you to make this dish. Below is the most common step-by-step recipe with a photo.
Cooking time - 2 hours 30 minutes.
Servings - 6
The recipe for Dungan noodles is very simple. Here are the components we need:
Note! Every 10 minutes, the dough should be kneaded - this will make it softer and softer.
Lagman is a popular national dish in Central Asian cuisine. There are many recipes for this dish. Each hostess chooses exactly the recipe that suits her best.
But no matter what recipe this dish is prepared for, the main ingredients are vegetables, meat and long noodles. I want to offer you a Dungan lagman recipe.
To prepare this dish, we will need these products:
seven glasses of wheat flour,
half a teaspoon of salt
two eggs,
one and a half kilograms of beef pulp,
two medium sized bell peppers
two medium potatoes
one large onion,
two celery,
one medium sized carrot
one tablespoon of tomato paste,
one tablespoon of soy sauce,
fresh greens,
ten tablespoons of vegetable oil,
five garlic cloves
some white cabbage.
Now we begin to prepare the lagman step by step.
1. First, prepare the basis for the lagman. Add salt, egg and water to the sifted flour. We mix everything. the dough should be tight. Cover the dough with a napkin and let it brew for an hour.
2. We thoroughly wash the beef under running water, dry it with a paper towel and cut into thin slices. We heat the cauldron and fry in vegetable oil over high heat until golden brown. Then reduce the heat to a minimum and fry until cooked.
3. Potatoes, bell peppers, carrots and onions are peeled and also cut into thin slices, like meat pieces. Shred the cabbage finely. Finely chop the peeled garlic cloves. When the meat is completely cooked, add soy sauce, onion, salt and garlic to it. Stir and fry over high heat until the onion disappears.
Then add chopped celery, carrots and sweet peppers. Stir and fry for ten minutes over medium heat. Add cabbage, tomato paste and chopped potatoes. Add water to slightly cover the vegetables. Cook under a closed lid over medium heat until fully cooked.
4. Let's start cooking noodles for the lagman. Put the dough on the table. To get a circle, press down on the dough with your hands. The circle should not be thin and small. Now, with a sharp knife, cut the prepared circle into long strips, the width of which is about two centimeters. Stripes should not be thin. Lubricate each piece with vegetable oil and roll it out so that thick ropes are obtained from them.
5. Now we take a plate and fill it with vegetable oil. Now from the ropes we make circles on plates, but not very thin. After all the noodles are on the plate, we pull them back from the plate, collecting them in a pile. Pull back from the heap. But we do not make very thin. We collect the noodles on the hand and stretch them on the table.