Mongolian cuisine

Mongolian dumplings: Buuds and Chuuschuur

The Mongolian cuisine is mainly characterized by meat and dairy products . The nomads in Mongolia live directly from the products of their animals ( horses , cows , yaks , camels , sheep , goats ). Meat is either cooked, used as an ingredient in soups or dumplings, or dried for the winter ( borts ). Various drinks as well as cheese and cheese- like products are made from milk and cream .

The Mongolian diet contains a very large proportion of animal fat . Winter temperatures of down to −40 ° C and work outdoors make appropriate energy reserves necessary.

In the countryside the nomads are basically self-sufficient . Travelers regularly find yurts labeled "Guanz" on the streets , which serve as refreshment stations.

Cooking in the yurt is usually done on a simple small stove, with dried animal dung as heating material.

Well-known dishes

Drying of Aaruul on the yurt roof

In the country, the most common dish is plain cooked sheep, regularly without any other side dishes. In the city, travelers will see Buuds written on every second pub . These are meat-filled dumplings that are cooked in steam. Other forms of dumplings are boiled in a water bath ( Bansch ) or fried in sheep fat ( Chuuschuur ). Other dishes combine the meat with rice or fresh pasta to make various stews.

The most unusual method of preparation is only used on special occasions: the meat (and possibly vegetables) is cooked using stones heated in the fire. This is done either with sheep meat in a pot or in a sealable milk can ( chorchog ), or the stones are filled into the abdominal cavity of a boned marmot or goat ( Boodog ).

The cream is separated from the milk by boiling ( Öröm ). The remaining skimmed milk is used to make cheese, dried quark ( Aaruul ), yoghurt, kefir , a slightly alcoholic milk drink ( Choormog ) and a light milk schnapps ( Archi ). The actual national drink , however, is the Airag , fermented mare's milk. Due to the Russian influence during the period of socialism , vodka has also found some distribution.

The everyday drink, also with meals, is salted milk tea ( Süütei Tsai ), which can also be expanded into a robust soup with rice, meat or bansch .

Food culture

As a guest in a yurt: Catering with Airag , Öröm , Aaruul and Boortsog

Anyone entering a yurt as a guest will always have something to eat and drink. It is not possible to decline the offer, but there is no need to empty the bowl either. With a small bite or a sip, politeness is enough and you can easily give the rest back. An empty bowl is filled immediately. Food (including other items) is always handed over and received with the right hand. The left hand touches the right elbow for symbolic support.

Legends

Some restaurant chains in the west have an attraction they call "Mongolian Barbecue". All possible ingredients (mostly from Southeast Asia ) are grilled in front of the customer on a large stone or steel plate. Although there is now such a restaurant in Ulan Bator , neither the ingredients nor the method of preparation have anything to do with Mongolian cuisine. Rather, this is an adaptation of the Japanese teppanyaki .

Mongolia is often given as the historical region of origin of the fire pot , but the scientific sources are extremely thin. Both the method of preparation and the equipment required are unknown in Mongolia today. The latter fits better in a sedentary culture anyway, as less specialized equipment is preferred in a nomadic household in order to save volume and weight during transport.

Every now and then one reads that the ancient Mongols under Genghis Khan had "soft-ridden" their pieces of meat under the saddle instead of boiling them. Indeed, Mongolian warriors sometimes put meat under the saddle, but not to soften the meat, but to protect the horse's back so that it was not rubbed sore so quickly. Then as now, Borts ground dried meat served as quick-to-prepare travel provisions .