Karakol Ashlan-Fu

Ashlan-fu is a cold dish of two kinds of noodle, wheat and a jelly made from starch, in a sour and chilli-heavy broth with vinegar, garlic and herbs, served in a bowl with a fried flatbread on the side. It came with the Dungan, Chinese-speaking Muslims who fled to this region in the nineteenth century, and Karakol is where it is best known; a row of stalls near the animal market serves it all day and competing families argue about whose version is correct. It is eaten cold, which surprises people the first time, and it is cheap enough that a bowl and a bread cost less than a coffee. Trying it is a fixed part of any stay in Karakol, and the setting, plastic stools in a busy hall, is part of the point.

What you actually see

• The stall rows - competing family kitchens serving the same dish.
• Two noodle types - wheat noodles and starch jelly in one bowl.
• The fried bread - the flatbread served alongside.
• Dungan cooking - the community's food in everyday use.

When to go

Year round; the stalls are busiest around the Sunday animal market when the town fills. It is a cold dish, so summer suits it better, though locals eat it in winter too.

Honest expectations

It is served cold and heavily soured with vinegar, which not everyone likes on first taste. Chilli levels vary and can be high. Stalls are basic, with shared tables and plastic stools. Standards of hygiene vary between kitchens, so busy stalls with high turnover are the safer choice.

Nearby

Karakol town is around you; the Sunday animal market is nearby.