An ancient soup of the Turkic steppe, descended from the cookpots of nomadic herders. Its name comes from a Turkic root for "soup" or "broth," which is why close cousins turn up all the way from Anatolia across Central Asia — Turkish çorba, Uyghur sorpa — under a tangle of spellings (shorpa, chorba, shorva) that all mean a rich, big-chunk-of-meat broth. What sets the Uzbek version apart is the bone-in lamb: a shank started in cold water and simmered 3+ hours, with the foam skimmed thoroughly in the first half-hour. That long, patient simmer is the diagnostic — no bouillon cubes, no shortcut.
Chorsu Bazaar's shurpa stalls serve 500+ bowls a market day; the going rate is 18,000 som with a whole shank. Bukharan style adds dried apricot and basil; Tashkent stays savory-only.
Yellow-clear broth, glistening with floating fat eyes. A meaty shank sticking out of the bowl, potato wedges holding shape, carrot disc sweet, chickpea floury. Dill on top, a green-chili pepper on the side. Tear bread, dunk.
Cold-water start with lamb bone, slow simmer 3 hours, skim foam thoroughly in first 30 min — this is what gives the clear yellow color. Vegetables added in last 40 min so each keeps shape. No browning, no sear.
Variations
Qaynatma shurpa (boiled-only, the everyday basic, lightest broth) and qovurma/kovurma shurpa (meat browned in fat first, then simmered, for a richer broth and deeper meat flavor) are the two defining styles. A leaner meatless or chickpea-only version is also made, and beef or chicken can stand in for lamb. Not to be confused with moshhurda — a separate, thicker Uzbek soup of mung bean and rice finished with soured cream — which, though also a one-pot soup, is a different dish from clear shurpa.
On the Palate
Where Shurpa sits in the Uzbek flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
4 steps · 2 hours 8 min active + 45 min waiting
- 1120 min
Boil 1 kg lamb bones with shank in 4 L water for 2 hr; skim foam.
Watch outStart the bones in cold water and skim the grey foam off patiently in the first half hour — that skim is exactly what keeps the broth clear golden instead of muddy.
- 245 min
Add 200 g chickpeas (pre-soaked), 4 cubed potatoes, 2 carrots sliced, 1 chopped onion; simmer 45 min.
Watch outKeep it at a bare shiver, never a rolling boil — a hard boil churns the fat back in and clouds the soup.
- 35 min
Season with 1 tbsp salt, black pepper; finish with handful chopped dill.
Watch outAdd the dill off the heat at the very end — let it boil and the fresh grassy top-note cooks away to nothing.
- 43 min
Ladle into deep bowls with chunks of meat.
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