Long strips of horse, beef or lamb salted and air-dried for months, originally for winter storage and travel. A preservation technique born of nomadic mobility, lightweight and non-perishable, the essential steppe protein.
Sur et is a preservation technique born of Kazakh nomadic mobility: long strips of meat (horse, beef or lamb) are salted and air-dried for months, originally for winter storage and long journeys. It is lightweight, non-perishable and concentrated, the essential steppe protein carried on horseback. It is eaten as-is (like jerky) or reconstituted in soups and stews, and is one of the most fundamental nomadic food techniques, predating refrigeration by centuries.
Dark, dense, intensely salty and meaty, with a chewy, leathery texture, the flavour deeply concentrated. Eaten as a portable snack or simmered back to tenderness, it is primal, salty and the survival food of the steppe.
Lean meat is cut into long strips, rubbed heavily with salt, and hung in a cool, dry, airy place for weeks to months. The salt draws out moisture and prevents spoilage; the air-drying concentrates the flavour and hardens the meat into a shelf-stable form. The strips can be eaten dry (like jerky) or rehydrated in soups, where they reconstitute and give the broth a deep, salty, meaty flavour.
Variations
A horse-meat version is the most prized. Some add pepper or juniper to the salt rub.
On the Palate
Where Sur Et sits in the Kazakh flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 10How it's made
6 steps · 25 min
- 15 min
Cut 1kg lean meat (horse, beef or lamb) into 3cm-thick long strips.
- 25 min
Rub generously with 80g salt; rest 12 hours.
Watch outRub the strips heavily with salt and rest — the salt has to draw the moisture out; skimp on it and the meat spoils before it dries.
- 33 min
Rinse briefly; pat dry.
- 45 min
Hang the strips in a cool, dry, airy place (or a 50C oven) 2-4 weeks until hard, dark and completely dry.
Watch outHang in a cool, dry, airy spot until hard, dark and bone-dry — any damp left inside and it rots on the line instead of curing.
- 54 min
Store in a cloth bag in a cool place; keeps for months.
- 64 min
Eat as jerky, or simmer in water 1 hour to reconstitute for soups.
