Beshbarmak

What it is

Beshbarmak is boiled meat chopped small, mixed with thin noodles and an onion sauce called chyk, and served on one large platter that several people share. Elsewhere it carries other names. Naryn is used in Xinjiang and in parts of Central Asia; Karakalpakstan and Dagestan say turama; Turkmenistan says dograma; Bashkortostan and Tatarstan say bişbarmaq or qullama. Kyrgyz speakers also have tuuralgan et, which describes meat that has been crumbled or chopped. In the Turkic languages the word translates as five fingers. Some accounts hold that this name came into use later, and it points to the custom of eating by hand.

The sharing ritual

Meat at this table is not handed out at random. If a sheep has been killed for a visitor, the host gives ustukan, named cuts, according to each person's age, sex and place in the household or gathering. The eldest and the most honoured are always served the best pieces. On important days the guest of honour, or the oldest or youngest man present, is given the bash, the animal's head, and cuts from it for the others. Eldest men receive jambash, the thigh bone; respected older women receive kuiruk, the tailbone. Legs and shoulders go to younger adults, the daughter-in-law gets the smaller bones, and the omurtka, or spine, is set aside for the children.

Broth and courses

Beshbarmak does not arrive alone. First comes shorpo, a broth of mutton, poured into bowls known as kese. The platters of meat and noodles follow, and after them comes ak-serke, a broth with kymyz or ayran stirred into it, which people drink believing it settles the stomach. Festive versions of the dish are cooked with qazı and chuchuk, horsemeat sausages. Everything is set out on the dastarkhan, the spread used for a meal, and eaten from the shared dish rather than from individual plates.

How it is made

For the noodles, flour, water, eggs and salt are worked into a dough and left to rest for about forty minutes, then rolled very thin and cut into strips. A pot is needed for boiling, a rolling pin for the dough, and in the north of Kyrgyzstan a small sharp knife called a maki for cutting everything small before it reaches the dastarkhan. The meat is boiled first: a horse's rump, a rack of lamb, or qazı and chuchuk sausage. Mutton is the usual choice in warm weather. The cooked meat is chopped fine, mixed with the noodles and dressed with the onion sauce.

Names and history

Central Asian cooking grew out of a herding life in which people depended completely on their animals, and that shows in dishes built on meat and dairy produce. According to the sources, beshbarmak became a recognised national dish through Soviet-era writing, which took over an older division between nomadic and settler peoples inherited from the Russian Empire. Two Soviet cookbooks are described as central to how the national cuisines of the region were set down: Kniga o vkusnoi i zdorovoi pishche and Natsional'nyie kukhni nashikh narodov, the second by William Pokhlyobkin.

How Beshbarmak is kept

A sheep may be killed in a guest's honour. The meat is boiled, the noodles cooked, and everything is carried to the dastarkhan, the spread where people eat, on shared platters. The host then names the cuts one by one. Besides those already mentioned, there are the joto jïlïk, the shin; the kashka jïlïk, the thigh or femur; the karchiga, running from rib to thigh; the kara kabirga, a rib with no fat; the kar jïlïk, the radius; dalii, the shoulder blade; the toshi, the brisket; and the kung jïlïk, from leg to shoulder blade. Broth is drunk before the platters arrive and again afterwards.

When and where

Beshbarmak has no fixed date. It is made for gatherings and celebrations, and when an animal is slaughtered in a guest's honour. At the meal, a mutton broth called shorpo comes first in bowls, then the platters of beshbarmak, and a broth mixed with kymyz or ayran afterwards.

The dish is kept across Central Asia: in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, and among Bashkir, Tatar and Dagestani communities in Russia. Neighbouring areas use their own names for it, including turama in Karakalpakstan, dograma in Turkmenistan, and naryn in Xinjiang. Sources describe a classic form of the dish in the Naryn region of northern Kyrgyzstan.

What Beshbarmak means

At the table the dish is a way of showing respect. Which cut you receive tells you how you stand in the family or the gathering, and the eldest and the honoured guest come first. Meat is not simply food here: a host who slaughters an animal for a visitor is making a statement about welcome. Eating from one platter with the hands binds the people around it into a single company.

Questions people ask about Beshbarmak

See also

SamovarA heated urn that brews tea for a slow, sociable pour, from Russia to Iran and KashmirKorovaiA round wedding bread of Eastern Europe, baked with songs and shared by all the guestsRussian tea cultureThe everyday cup of Russia, brewed strong and diluted to taste, with jam and sweetsIftarThe sunset meal that breaks the Ramadan fast, eaten with family and community

Good reading and sources

• Beshbarmak on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.