According to legend, the drink was created by an aksakal who, wishing to save his daughter-in-law from embarrassment due to overly salted shorpo, suggested adding kumys to it. Thus, "ak serke" was born—a combination of salty broth and sour kumys (or other fermented dairy products), giving it a unique taste and promoting better food absorption.
Turmush correspondent gathered interesting facts about this traditional drink.
Beishen Sarakeev, a resident of Karakol, notes that at Kyrgyz celebrations, meat was prepared in every home, and the aroma of shorpo brought people together at one table. "Every national dish has its legends about its origin. One of them is about shorpo 'ak serke.' Our ancestors always said: 'Watch the salt in the meat; if it is oversalted, dilute the shorpo with boiling water.' One of the legends associated with 'ak serke' is indeed about salt.
Once, a guest came to the house. The son of the family had left, and the daughter-in-law was alone, preparing the meat. When the food was ready, she served shorpo to her father-in-law. The aksakal tried it and noticed that the shorpo was oversalted. To avoid embarrassing the daughter-in-law, he said, 'Add all the kumys from the bag to the shorpo.' He explained to the guests that this is how they drink shorpo to make it tastier. And he called it 'ak serke.' Later, other fermented dairy products began to be added to shorpo, but the most delicious version is with kumys. This is just one of the legends; in fact, there are many tales about the origin of this drink," adds Sarakeev.
"Ak serke" is one of the national drinks of the Kyrgyz. It is prepared by adding kumys, diluted with süzmö, kurut, or ayran, to meat broth. The salty taste of the meat combined with the sour taste of the dairy products gives "ak serke" a special flavor. This drink aids digestion, especially after consuming beshbarmak.
