Quick index
- Kazan Kabob — An Uzbek 'kebab' with no skewer at all: chunks of lamb and whole potatoes slow-fried in their own fat in a covered cast-iron kazan until the meat confits and the potatoes crisp.
- Tandir Kabob — Whole sides of salt-rubbed lamb hung inside a sealed clay tandir over smoldering juniper or fruitwood branches, steam-roasting for hours until the meat pulls from the bone.
- Uzbek Shashlik — The Silk Road bazaar version of shashlik: small cubes of lamb alternated with slices of dumba (sheep tail fat), marinated with onion, vinegar, and generous cumin and coriander, then grilled fast over white-hot coals.
- Jiz-Biz — A sizzling Fergana Valley specialty of lamb liver, kidney, heart, and ribs flash-fried in tail fat in a kazan — its name imitates the hissing sound of the pan.
- Kuurdak — One of the oldest nomad meat dishes of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan: chunks of mutton (fresh offal after a slaughter, by tradition) fried hard in tail fat with onions and later potatoes in a single pot.
- Sixkabob — Tajikistan's shashlik, whose name comes straight from 'six' (skewer): lamb marinated overnight in onion, vinegar, and cumin, often interleaved with tail fat or made in a two-meat version combining cubes and minced patties on the same skewer.
- Tonur Kawap — The Uyghur tandoor kebab: whole racks or legs of lamb rubbed with egg, flour, and spices, then roasted against the walls of a clay tonur oven until lacquered outside and juicy within.
- Kazakh Shashlyk — Kazakhstan's steppe rendition of the skewer, distinctive for its frequent use of horse meat or fatty mutton marinated in kefir or mineral water with onion and black pepper, grilled over saxaul wood that burns hotter than charcoal.