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The traditional Mongolian cuisine primarily consists of Dairy products and meat. The nomads of Mongolia sustain their lives directly from the products of their animals (horses, cattle, yaks, camels, sheep, goats). Meat is either cooked, used as ingredient for soups or dumplings, or dried for winter ("Borts"). Milk and cream are used to make a variety of beverages, as well as cheese and similar products.
The mongolian diet includes a large proportion of animal fat. While this would lead to health problems in an industrialized society, it is necessary for the Mongols to withstand the cold winters and their hard work. Winter temperatures oas low as -40 °C and outdoor work require sufficient energy reserves. Most of the diseases of civilization common to the western world are therfore only known to mongolians living in the city, who increasingly eat industrially manufactured food as well.
The nomads on the countryside are self-supporting by principle. Travellers will find yurts marked as "Guanz" in regular intervals near the roadside, which operate as simple restaurants.
Cooking in the yurt normally happens in a wok on a small stove, using animal dung as heating material.
Known dishes
The most common rural dish is cooked mutton, often without any other ingredients. In the city, every other locale displays a sign saying "Buuz". Those are dumplings filled with meat, which are cooked in steam. Other types of dumplings are boiled in water ("Bansh"), or deep fried in mutton fat ("Khuushuur"). Other dishes combine the meat with rice or fresh noodles into various hotpots.
The most surprising cooking method is only used on special occasions. In this case, the meat (often together with vegetables) gets cooked with the help of stones, which have been preheated in a fire. This either happens with chunks of mutton in a sealed milk can ("Khorkhog"), or within the stomach cavity of a deboned marmot or goat ("Boodog").
Milk is boiled to sepearte the cream ("Öröm", clotted cream). The remaining skimmed milk is processed into cheese ("Byaslag"), dried curds ("Aruul"), Yoghurt, Kefir, as well as a light milk liquor ("Mongol Arkhi"). The most prominent national beverage is Airag, fermented mare's milk. As a consequence of the russian influence during the time of socialism, Wodka also has gained some popularity.
The everyday beverage is salted milk tea ("Suutei Tsai"), which may turn into a robust soup by adding rice, meat, or Bansh.
Hospitality
A guest entering a yurt will always be given something to eat. It is not possible to reject the offer, but it isn't necessary to empty the bowl either. Taking a small bite or a sip satisfies the etiquette, and the rest may be returned without difficulty. An empty bowl will be refilled immediately. Food (as well as other items) are always passed and received with the right hand, while the left hand touches the right elbow for symbolical support.
Misunderstandings
Some restaurant franchises in Europe and North America offer an attraction which they call "Mongolian Barbeque". Their staff will stir fry all kinds of ingredients (typically of south-east Asian origin) in front of the customer on a large heated steel or stone plate. Even one such locale has even opened in Ulaanbaatar, neither the ingredients nor the cooking method has anything in common with Mongolian cuisine. They are rather inspired by the Japanese Teppanyaki.
Some sources claim that the old Mongols under Genghis Khan had placed pieces of meat under their saddles to tenderize them by the pressure, instead of cooking them. While they may indeed have sometimes placed meat under their saddles, they didn't do so for culinary reasons, but to protect the back of their horses from getting chafed by the saddle. The historical form of food for travel was the same back then as it is today, the dried and ground meat Borts.
See also
- BD's Mongolian Barbeque a franchise with a misleading name
"Mongolian cuisine"