Wednesday

Türkistan Restaurant: Lagmania

Thwap. Thwap. Thwap. “Do you hear that?” asked Sean Roberts, an expert on Uighur culture and politics and our dining companion for the day. “They’re making the lagman.”

As if inspired by the image of a pizza-maker spinning dough on his finger like a basketball and tossing it in the air, lagman-makers have a similar choreography that includes a deep swing, a flip and a smack of the thick braid of noodles. But unlike pizza dough, lagman have escaped mass production; they are handmade by definition. A bowl of lagman noodles – which are as fat and chewy as udon at certain points and as thin as spaghetti at others – is full of surprises. The generous topping of sautéed finely chopped lamb and fresh red and green peppers that came with the suyru lagman (guyru lagman comes with a more chunky variety of the same ragout) was a delicious and spicy change of pace from the milder Turkish palate.

“This is a good lagman. I’m sweating,” said Roberts.

The rest of this previously featured review can be found on CulinaryBackstreets.com, here.

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