Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Mongolian Cuisine
The nomadic Mongols have lived off their herds for centuries. Meat and milk
are the staples while (traditionally, at least) vegetables were written off as
feed for animals. Seasoning is not used in traditional cooking, although
Mongolians have long added salt to their foods (including tea). Mongolians
typically cook with a wok, so most foods are stir-fried or boiled. A steamer
is usually available for cooking dumplings. In contrast, in Ulaanbaatar
there's a surprisingly cosmopolitan restaurant scene.
Because of his failing health, the advisors of Ögedei Khaan (a son of Chinggis) sugges-
ted that he halve the number of cups of alcohol he drank per day. Ögedei readily agreed,
then promptly ordered that his cups be doubled in size.
Staples & Specialties
Almost any Mongolian dish can be created with meat, rice, flour and potatoes. Most meals
consist of
talkh
(bread) in the towns and cities and
bortzig
(fried unleavened bread) in the
gers, and the uncomplicated
shölte khool
(literally, soup with food) - a meal involving hot
broth, pasta slivers, boiled mutton and a few potato chunks. Two of the most popular
menu options you'll find in restaurants are
buuz
(steamed dumplings filled with mutton
and sometimes slivers of onion or garlic) and
khuushuur
(fried mutton pancakes). Mini-
ature
buuz
, known as
bansh
, are usually dunked in milk tea.
Tsuivan
is a Mongolian ver-
sion of pasta made from steamed flour noodles, carrots, potato and mutton chunks.
The classic Mongolian dinner staple, especially in the countryside, is referred to simply
as
makh
(meat) and consists of boiled sheep bits (bones, fat, various organs and the head)
with some sliced potato for variety. The other highlight of Mongolian cuisine is
khorkhog
,
made by placing hot stones from an open fire into an urn with chopped mutton, some wa-
ter and sometimes vodka. The container is then sealed and left on the fire. While eating
this, it's customary to pass the hot, greasy rocks from hand to hand, as this is thought to be
good for your health.
In summer, Mongols snack on
tsagaan idee
(dairy products; literally 'white foods')
:
yogurt, milk, delicious fresh cream, cheese and fermented milk drinks. When you visit a
ger, you will be offered dairy snacks such as
aaruul
(dried milk curds). Finally, if you get
a chance, don't miss the opportunity to try blow-torched marmot (prairie dog), a delicacy
of the steppes.
