My favourite food Manty – steamed dumplings

Beef Barley Soup

Ingredients

Stew Meat - 1.25 lbs. - I choose to dice mine down smaller than it comes from the butcher Small Onions - 1 1/2 Garlic - 1 Tablespoon Black Pepper - 1 Tablespoon Diced Tomatoes - 1 28 oz. can Celery - 10 stalks Beef Broth - 12 cups Carrots - 8 Uncooked Barley - 1 1/4 cups

Directions

Cut up the stew meat into smaller pieces (optional) Dice your onions Add the meat and the onions to the pot and set on medium heat. If you have a thinner base pot, you should add a dash of butter or oil to keep it from burning. With a thicker base pot, this is usually not needed. Keeping cooking till it is all brown on the outside of the meat and the onions have started to soften. Add the garlic and black pepper Add the diced tomatoes White the tomatoes are heating up in the pot, I dice up my celery and then add it into the pot Add the beef broth Start peeling and slicing your carrots and then add to the pot Heat on medium to low heat for about 45 minutes Add the barley and cook for another 45 minutes or until barley is soft Other tips - sometimes the beef broth doesn't bring a ton of flavor so I will add a teaspoon or so of beef bouillon. Actually I use Better than Bouillon, it is amazing. You can also serve with some parmesan cheese.

1. Plov

Plov (sometimes also called “osh”) is widely considered to be the national dish of Uzbekistan. It’s a hearty rice pilaf and you’ll probably notice that the word “plov” and “pilaf” are essentially the same. You can expect a heaping portion of rice that has been cooked together with lamb or beef, onions, garlic, raisins, carrots, and apricots. Plov is not only the most famous dish in Uzbekistan, but it is also one of the most delicious.
You’ll find that most restaurants serving Uzbek food offer plov as an option, but if you want to truly experience it, you’ll want to head to a “Plov Center” in one of the cities you’re visiting.
These restaurants specialize in plov and cook the dish in gigantic iron cauldrons (called “kazans”) over an open fire. Plov centers generally serve plov and nothing else except for bread, tea, and a selection of side salads to accompany your huge plate of rice pilaf.