Method
- Make the broth: combine horsemeat with water, halved onion, ginger, garlic, salt and pepper. Simmer 90 minutes — the meat should be very tender. Add the kazy sausage in the last 10 minutes to heat through.
- Lift out the meat and sausage; cool. Strain the broth.
- Slice the meat into thin strips. Slice the kazy sausage thinly.
- Make the noodle dough: combine flour, salt and warm water. Knead 10 minutes. Rest 60 minutes. Stretch by hand into long thin noodles (similar to lagman). Boil 3 minutes; drain.
- In a wide bowl, combine the cooked noodles, sliced meat, sliced kazy, dill and vinegar. Toss thoroughly with a generous splash of the strained broth.
- Serve at room temperature on a wide platter. Norin is meant to be eaten with a fork or by the hands, communally. Each diner takes some noodle, meat and broth in each bite.
Common questions
Can Norin be made ahead?
Norin is best made and eaten the same day, but the components can be prepped earlier — chop and measure the ingredients up to a day ahead, refrigerated separately. Final cooking takes about 120 minutes.
Is Norin spicy?
Norin as written is mild to mildly warming — the heat comes from aromatics rather than chili. Add fresh sliced chili or chili oil at the end if you'd like to push it spicier.
Is Norin vegetarian or gluten-free?
This recipe is suitable for most diets. If you have specific restrictions, the substitutions section in each ingredient note covers the most common swaps.
How hard is Norin to make at home?
Norin is more demanding — total time around 180 minutes plus marinating/resting where noted. Specific technique (knife work, wok hei, fermentation) makes the difference between a passable result and the real thing.
Can Norin be scaled up or down?
This recipe is written for 4 servings. To scale, multiply each ingredient proportionally; the cooking times stay the same up to about double the volume. Beyond that, expect to cook in batches because of pan size and heat distribution.
Cultural Note
Norin is the Uzbek-Bukharan banquet dish — featuring kazy (a horsemeat sausage that's a Central Asian specialty). The dish is regarded as upscale and is served at weddings, anniversaries and important family gatherings. Horsemeat is a Central Asian protein tradition shared with Kazakh and Kyrgyz cuisines. The hand-pulled noodles are the same technique as lagman. Modern Uzbek diaspora communities sometimes substitute beef tongue or beef shank for the harder-to-source horsemeat.
