Saturday, October 28, 2017

Kazy - Kazakh Horse Sausage

I did a previous post on shuzhuk, a Kazakh horse sausage. This post is on another Kazakh horse sausage called kazy, and how the two types of Kazakh horse sausages differ.

Not surprisingly, I find discrepancies in their differences, but this article which goes into detail in the preparation of both, seems to provide the best contrast.

Kazy is made of horse rib meat, just as shuzhuk usually is, but starts with the bone-in ribs, which includes the fat. Shuzhuk is de-boned horse rib meat, but then adds suet (horse fat) to the mixture. Shuzhuk can also include added greens to taste. I understand that the amount of fat in shuzhuk can differ, but the given recipe calls for an equal amount of fat to rib meat, a significant difference. So Shuzhuk contains more fat.

This kazy recipe indicates that the un-salted horse ribs are hung and air-dried for 5 to 7 hours. Another comparison I looked at said the un-salted horse ribs were hung in a sunny well-aired place for a week, a huge difference. By comparison, shuzhuk is rubbed with salt and kept at a (cooler) temperature of 37 to 39 degrees for one to two days. This variation means that the kazy retains less moisture than shuzhuk and has a drier texture.

For kazy, the dried rib meat is cut into strips along the ribs. Inter-rib tissue is cut with a sharp knife to remove cartilage and without crumbling the fat. The stripped rib meat is salted, peppered and garlic is added and it is wrapped in a napkin and left to sit for 2 to 3 hours.  In shuzhuk, the meat and fat are cut into small pieces and mixed, then the same amount of pepper, salt and garlic that are added to the kazy are added to the shuzhuk and mixed again. The shuzhuk is in much smaller pieces and is mixed with more fat. The kazy is in long pieces.

Both kazy and shuzhuk are then stuffed into horse intestine (which have been washed and kept in salt water) as a casing and the ends are tied up with string.

At this point this recipe loses definition. It states that the kazy can then be dried, boiled and smoked. The Wiki article on kazy says that it can either be smoked at 122 to 140 degrees for 12 to 18 hours, or hung to dry for a week in a sunlit and windy place (which may be a confusion in articles on kazy between the initial drying of the meat and the drying of the sausage casings after they've been stuffed). It is then cooked in boiling water for two hours and sliced into quarter-inch thick slices. For the shuzhuk, it says is is smoked over dense smoke at 122 to 140 degrees for 12 to 18 hours, then dried for two to three days at 53 degrees. This recipe does not mention the final step of slow boiling for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

By comparison, they are both presented in round disks a quarter-inch thick. The shuzhuk is fatter and more tender.
Shuzhuk on a platter at Abay Restaurant in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
The kazy is more coarse.  Kazy is said to be used more by rich people. 
Kazy in a dish of besmarmak at Abay Restaurant in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The kazy is the dark brown disks. 
Kazy (the dark brown disks)
I'm sure that is because it is all rib meat and no added fat, so more expensive to prepare. 

1 comment:

  1. Both amazingly good and not horrible foreign to the American palate. These were very fun to try, especially incorporated into local dishes.

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