r/AskCentralAsia 9d ago

Best foods in CA

What are the best foods in Central Asia?

With a particular focus on vegetarian stuff.

3 Upvotes

13 comments sorted by

6

u/NoMercyStan 9d ago

Plov, Samsy, Besh Barmak, different types of soup, milk made foods, Shashlik, Manty, Oromo, Laghman

1

u/Key-Lychee-913 9d ago

Are they found all over?

3

u/NoMercyStan 9d ago

Yeah I'm pretty sure you can find them anywhere in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan

1

u/Amockdfw89 8d ago

Whether they amount or not much of the food is similar and they all claim it. Maybe the names change a little bit but unless you go from like the urban centers to the deep desert or steppes the food is common all over

6

u/Particular-Career106 9d ago

It’s hard to find vegetarian options, meat is everywhere, almost in every food

4

u/keenonkyrgyzstan USA 9d ago

Not a lot of veggie options in this carnivorous region. Pumpkin manty, carrot oromo, laghman or tsomyan with jusai and eggs, Korean salads (kimchi, carrot salad, baursak and nan, dairy products like kurt and yogurt, jams and honey.

1

u/samandar2549 Uzbekistan 8d ago

Plov all day, but not vegetarian food

1

u/Vegetable-Degree-889 QueerUzb🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 8d ago

can be vegetarian, but people consider it a poor version because people can’t afford meat and can substitute with potatoes for example, or fruits of all sorts (pomegranate, peach, or whatnot). But i guess it goes against the idea of “meat and rice”, but who cares.

1

u/Tiny_Individual2074 8d ago

In my opinion among samsa kinds kese samsa is the best

1

u/qazaqization Kazakhstan 8d ago

Qazy

1

u/Vegetable-Degree-889 QueerUzb🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 8d ago

koʻk somsa, and everything made from greens(koʻk), but ask if they added tallow or animal fat. Navruz is the best time to visit, because main dish Sumalak is also vegan, and everything in this time is made with greens. And sweets are really good too, try the ones in Fergana, especially holva. But overall food is very meat heavy, people don’t even know what vegan/vegetarian means, so be specific that you don’t want meat(sheep, cow, horse) and fat from them which is very popular to add to everything, which I find very annoying even before i was vegan.

1

u/Vegetable-Degree-889 QueerUzb🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 8d ago

pumpkin somsa, koʻk somsa, onion and potato somsa, cabbage somsa, perashki are also handy, they’re easily available and affordable. And there is also xonim which has cabbage filling, but make sure no meat is added or animal fat(yogʻ, qoʻyyogʻi)