Kyrgyzstan Food

Don’t expect fine dining in Kyrgyzstan and don’t be surprised if you find some of the food unpalatable or quite unhealthy due to the amount of fat. The Kyrgyzstan food is a mix of Turkic/Slavic and Uyghur origin, and Russian food is also commonplace, or there’s a cross between Kyrgyz and Russian “cuisine”.

The food is mostly centred around meat, pasta and dairy products, if you call horse milk “dairy”. The meat may be horse, mutton and sometimes beef for shashlyk, and rarely pork unless you’re in a Russian restaurant. And if there’s chicken on the menu, it may not be of good quality. At least the horse served up is not like Japan, sashimi style. If you’re a vegetarian, you might be eating a lot of bread.

The cities have restaurants that may stray away from Kyrgyz and Russian fare, and Bishkek is becoming more progressive with restaurants serving up fusion fare. Bazaars are also a good spot to sample street food and fresh produce.

Out in the regional areas, restaurants are limited and you’ll likely be eating at your homestay where the table will be laden with plentiful options.

Here are some common dishes in Kyrgyzstan to get your taste buds going…. or not!

• Beshbarmak – noodle dish with meat (usually horse or mutton) that’s usually very bland. Beshbarmak means “five fingers” because it’s traditional eaten with your hand
• Manti – steamed dumplings of meat and onion
• Plov – rice pilaf with meat and carrots
• Laghman – noodles with meat and vegetables
• Samsa – like samosas except with mutton, onions and gravy Kurut – salty dried yoghurt balls
• Bread – lots of it!

Beverages

Tea is a common drink of choice, whether it be green or black tea.

Kumiz or kymyz, fermented horse milk in sheepskin sacks, is also popular!

Beer is readily available. The Russian Baltika is a common brand and comes in different strengths from zero alcohol to very strong. Kyrgyz bottled beer is often cheaper than Russian beer but questionable, whilst local draught beer may be better. The pick of the bunch is probably Steinbrau from the Bishkek German brewery.

Naturally, vodka is easy to come by cheaply, whilst other spirits are made from wheat and fermented millet wheat.

Ramadan may fall during your ski trip, and eating and drinking may be illegal in public places. Ask locals if it’s OK to eat or drink with respect to the when and where and in the presence of whom.