Uzbek Plov

Or, my new favorite way to make rice.

We've moved on to the country of Uzbekistan. Situated smack dab in the middle of the Silk Road, Uzbekistan has absorbed many of the culinary traditions from the regions surrounding it, and made them its own. There is influence from the Middle East, Russia, and even China.

The dish that I made for this entry is probably most influenced by the Middle Eastern style of cooking, or at least that's what it seems like to me. It's fitting then that we decided to count Uzbekistan as part of the Middle East, because that could be up for debate depending on who you talk to. I'm actually pretty rusty on my middle Asian geography, and I will admit that I had to look Uzbekistan up on the map in order to orient myself. (Pun not intended, but I'm also proud of it.)

We're starting our tour of Uzbekistan with the national dish, plov. Notice how the word "plov" is very similar to the word "pilaf." It's basically the same principal, a mixed rice dish.

The main ingredients in the recipe that I used were lamb leg, carrots, onions, and basmati rice. One ingredient that eluded me was barberries, but reading the comments of the recipe I learned that dried cranberries would be an acceptable substitute. Below you can see all the steps I took to make the plov, and you can find the recipe that I used here. It seemed like the recipe would make a lot of food, so I cooked it in a large pot.

Not that hard, just a lot of stirring and waiting.

This dish was simply amazing. There's no other way to describe it. I actually did a dance in my seat as I ate it. It's some of the best rice I've made in a long time, and I've been making a lot of rice lately! The lamb was extraordinarily tender, and the spices were the perfect compliment. Then the sweetness of the cranberry gave it a nice finish. The only weird thing was the garlic. I think it's just for show, and I was probably supposed to roast it first without even peeling it. Oh well, it really doesn't matter because this was oh.so.good. no matter what.

To serve the plov, I made an Uzbek tomato and onion salad. I think it's actually supposed to be served with plov. And it did go nicely as a side. Here's the recipe.

I really hoped there would be leftovers of this meal for days, but not at the rate I ate it.

Yum! Well done, Uzbekistan!!