I tried a lot of local foods on my trip to Karakol. I ate a gamburger (kind of like a shish kebab but in a white burger - I probably had a very boring one as I asked for it without any of the sauces, which would either have had vinegar or tomato).
At the big bazaar, I also tried a traditional Dungan dish and a traditional Russian dish, at the same little stall. Ashliangfoo is a traditional Dungan dish which consists of cold handmade noodles in a soup-like mixture (which unfortunately contains enough vinegar to make it not as pleasurable for me as the noodles with something else would have been). Karakol has the best ashliangfoo in Kyrgyzstan, or so my local friends informed me, so I was glad to get the chance to try it there. Piroshki is a Russian dish consisting of deep-fried bread with mashed potato and onion inside. I enjoyed it, though it was a bit too oily (like most foods here). The lovely Dungan cook also allowed me to take a picture of her at work in her kitchen!
The bazaar was a cultural experience in more senses than the culinary one. We passed by a stall with what looked like plain white rocks to me, but my friend told me that the rocks are crushed into salt which is fed to cows.
I also saw samsi (samosa-like things) being made – they are made on the sides of a big round stone oven. Apparently the walls of this 'oven' are so hot that the samsi stick to the side when they are pressed there. I thought it was very cool, which probably shows you what an under-exposed city girl I am.
No comments:
Post a Comment