The sofra (a cloth spread on the ground) of the Karakhanid Turks organizes the meal around a few staples: nan (flatbread, omnipresent), ash or tuttmaç (soups and noodle broths, the daily foundation), et (boiled or roasted meat, a marker of celebration and hospitality), fermented or dried dairy products (qurut, ayran, qımız) that accompany every meal, and beverages. There is no sequential service: dishes are set out together, and each person serves themselves by hand or with a wooden spoon.

Fat-tailed sheep tail fat is the principal cooking fat of medieval Central Asian Turkish cuisine. Al-Kashgari documents several terms related to fat-tailed sheep in the Dîwân. This melting fat, with its pronounced, slightly smoky flavor, serves as both a cooking medium, a condiment, and a preservative. It radically distinguishes this cuisine from Mediterranean olive oil traditions or Indian clarified butter.