Khorkhog is a traditional Mongolian barbecue dish and an authentic example of Mongolian cuisine. Khorkhog is made by cooking pieces of meat inside a container which also contains hot stones and water, and is often also heated from the outside.

 Preparation

To make khorkhog, Mongolians take lamb (goat meat can be substituted) and cut it into pieces of convenient size, leaving the bone. Then the cook puts ten to twenty fist-sized rocks in a fire. When the rocks are hot enough, the rocks and the meat are placed in the chosen cooking container. Metal milk jugs are a traditional choice, although any container sturdy enough to hold the hot rocks will serve.

The cook adds other ingredients as desired (carrots, cabbage, potatoes) to make a stew, then adds salt and other spices. The ingredients should be layered, with the vegetables on top. Finally the cook pours in a sufficient quantity of water to create a steam bubble inside the jug, which he then closes with a lid.

The heat of the stones and the steam will cook the meat inside the jug. The cook can also put the jug on a fire or the stove if the stones are not hot enough. The stones will turn black from the heat and the fat they absorb from the lamb. The jug should remain covered while the cook listens to and smells the meal to judge when it is ready. The stones can take up to an hour and a half to cook the meat sufficiently. When finished, the khorkhog is ready to eat. The cook hands out portions of meat along with the hot stones which are tossed from hand to hand and are said to have beneficial properties. Diners usually eat khorkhog with their fingers, although one can use a knife to slice the meat off the bone.

Khorkhog is a popular dish in the Mongolian countryside, but usually is not served in restaurants.

Khuushuur is a kind of meat pastry or dumpling popular in Mongolia.The meat, either beef or mutton, is ground up and mixed with onion (or garlic) salt and other spices. The cook rolls the dough into circles, then places the meat inside the dough and folds the dough in half, creating a flat half-circular pocket. The cook then closes the pockets by pressing the edges together. A variety of khuushuur has a round shape made by pressing the dough and mince together using the dough roller.

After making the pockets, the cook fries them in oil until the dough turns a golden brown. The khuushuur is then served hot, and can be eaten by hand.

Some Mongolians hold the fresh khuushuur between their palms and also with the tips of all fingers to stimulate the nerves and blood circulation in the hands. This is believed to be curative. In some occasions, a hot khuushuur is placed on the soles of the feet and other selected places to treat neurosis and health conditions related to the balance of the air element of the five elements composing the human body.

 Buuz are a type of Mongolian steamed dumpling filled with minced mutton, or beef meat. The meat is flavoured with onion or garlic and salted. Occasionally, they are flavoured with sprouted fennel seeds and other seasonal herbs. Some households add mashed potato, cabbage or rice depending on their preferences.

The meat ball is then placed inside a small pocket of dough which is folded around the ball with a small opening at the top and in the chef's own personal style. The buuz is then steamed and eaten by hand, with the dough pocket catching the juices of the meat.

Buuz is an example of authentic Mongolian cuisine. The dish is traditionally eaten at home on Tsagaan Sar, the Mongolian New Year.

Dried meat cut in stripes or ground to powder.

The long and harsh winters in Mongolia make it necessary to store sufficient food to survive, and most of that will be meat. A family will eat approximately one cow and seven or eight sheep.

The source of the meat varies by region. In the Govi camel meat is available, and in the mountainous north reindeer. But particularly for Borts horse meat is also a popular option. It is said to keep people warm more than other types, which is attributed to the special fat of a yellowish color.

Prepare the Borts

The fresh meat is cut into long strips, 2-3 cm thick and 5-7 cm wide. The strips are hung on strings under the roof of the yurt, where the air is free to circulate.

After about a month the meat is dry. It has turned into hard and small sticks which feel like wood and have taken on a brown color. The volume has shrunk so much that the meat of a cow now can easily fit into the stomach of the same cow.

The dried Borts is broken into small pieces or ground to a coarse and fibrous powder. It is stored in a linen bag which allows contact with air. In the dry climate of mongolia, this method of storage preserves the quality of the meat over months or even years.

Nowadays Borts also gets industrially manufactured, and can be bought by the kilogram in paper bags. This is very convenient for city dwellers who don't have a yurt anymore to dry their meat themselfes. However, traditionalists insist that the taste of those products can't compete with the homemade stuff.

Preparation

This is the most traditional, simplest, and ubiquitous dish of the mongolian nomads. The meat of an animal (usually mutton) is cut into handy chunks together with the bones, and boiled in salted water until ready. Originally, this was the full meal, today some vegetables or a condiment like Ketchup are usually added. The meat is eaten with the fingers, using a sharp knife.

The head of the family or the guest of honor gets the first and largest portion, then the others may help themselves. A strengthening meal like this is considered mandatory especially before departing on a journey. An early morning departure turns this specific dish into a breakfast, which may take some getting used to for foreign visitors.

When a sheep is slaughtered, all of the innards are removed and prepared for eating. The blood of the animal is collected and filled into the carefully cleaned intestines. The result are blood sausages (black pudding), liver, lungs, and other goodies in a large bowl, which will be well received by all family members. The neighbours also get a plate full of selected pieces.

The cold remains won't taste quite as well the next day, and are usually reheated on or in the stove for eating. On the picture, the anticipation is clearly visible in the face of the gourmand, as well as the open stove door to the right.

Preparation

Leave the milk (usually from cattle, yaks, camels) to curdle. Lift out the solid components with a fine cloth and let as much of the liquid drip off. Then press the mass into a cake of a few cm height between two wooden boards, weighted down with stones.

Cut the solid cake into pieces of about 10 length. Arrange the pieces on a wooden board and put them into the sun for drying. In Mongolia, this happens on the roof of the yurt. A cover of fine white cloth will keep the birds away.

Use

The dried pieces can be stored almost indefinitively. They can get quite hard, so most people rather suck than bite on them. The taste may vary regionally and depending on the milk used, but usually includes a combination of sweet and sour.

Arul belongs to the most common travel provisions (next to Borts). The pieces are also a ready snack for the small (or larger) hunger at almost any time. Some sources cite Aaruul as the primary reason that traditionally living mongolian people have very little troubles with their teeth. It is also one of the core vitamin sources for the nomads.

Preparation

The Mongolians use milk from cattle and yaks, or less often from goats or sheep, to produce yoghurt. First the milk is boiled. Most often only the low fat milk remaining after the preparation of Urum is used. The lactic acid bacteria cultures stored from last time are added when the milk has cooled down to hand temperature. It will take a few hours until the fresh yoghurt is finished.

"White butter", clotted cream.

The milk of yaks (or in the Gobi camels) is best, because it contains more fat. The first few pictures show the production of Urum from yak milk.

Preparation

Heat the milk on the stove, just below boiling. In regular intervals, lift a ladle full into the air, and let it splash back into the pot, to create foam. This "scooping" (самрах) is necessary because the shallow wok-like Mongolian pan makes normal stirring ineffective, but it also has the quality of a ritual.

Once there is enough foam, let the milk cool down slowly. Now it needs to rest overnight. In the morning, a skin of about 1 cm clotted cream has formed, which is taken off. Stored dry and cool (in a wooden vat or a sheep's stomach), Urum will stay palatable for a full winter season.

Cattle milk contains less fat, so the skin will be thinner. The following images show the resulting smaller amount of Urum.

Tea with milk-  Mongolian tea is produced by adding a small quantity of tea leaves - typically from brick tea - to a pot of salted water, which is brought to a boil, whereupon a quantity of milk equivalent to about 1/3 the amount of water is added, and the tea is repeatedly scooped with a ladle and poured back into the pot so as mix the drink and allow it to foam. Milk tea is often mixed with rice, flour, clotted cream or even pieces of meat to give it more substance, or consumed accompanied by home-made “boortsog “ - fried biscuits.

The central role of tea in the traditional Mongolian diet provides clear evidence of the importance of the nomads' participation in international trade over many centuries. Indeed prior to the adoption of an official Mongolian currency in the early 20th century, commercial prices were commonly listed in units of brick tea

Foreigners who have visited Mongolia notice that Mongols always boil milk and never use it all by itself. They either dilute it with hot water to obtain the so-called khyaram or add it to tea. Salt and milk are indispensable components of Mongolian tea. Mongols use a variety of tea pressed into large cubes. This variety only grows in Central Asia and China.

Airag is the traditional national beverage of Mongolia. The most important animal of the Mongols is the horse. Horses don't only serve as riding animals, the mare's milk also has a special status.

Preparation

The milk is filtered through a cloth, and poured into a large open leather sack (Khukhuur), which is usually suspended next to the entrance of the yurt. Alternatively, a vat from larch wood (Gan), or in modern times plastic, can be used. Within this container, the milk gets stirred with a wooden masher (buluur).

The stirring needs to be repeated regularly over one or two days. Traditionally, anyone entering or leaving the yurt would do a few strokes. The fermentation process is caused by a combination of lactic acid bacteria and yeast, similar to Kefir. The stirring makes sure that all parts of the milk are fermented equally.

 It contains a small amount of carbon dioxide, and up to 2% of alcohol. The taste is slightly sour, but quite agreeable after getting used to it. The exact taste depends both of the characteristics of the pastures and the exact method of production. The beverage is a rich source of vitamins and minerals for the nomads.

Light liquor made from Isgelen Tarag (Kefir, sometimes Airag is also used).

This completely transparent beverage has a good reputation especially among mongolian men, because it was traditionally the strongest drink available. We haven't found it as an industrially manufactured product, and in contrast to Airag it is rarely sold to the general public. Travellers will find it the most common occasion to taste a sample when invited as a guest into the yurt of a family of nomads.

Preparation

The Kefir is placed in a wok on the stove.

A special vat without top and bottom is placed on top of the wok.

In the center of the vat, a collector bowl is connected to a wooden channel leading out through the wall.

On top of the vat, a second wok serves as a lid, filled with cold water.

When the stove is fired up, then the kefir vaporizes, starting with the alcohol.

The steam condenses when it touches the cold lid, and the convex shape leads it to drip right into the collector in the center.

The cold water on top gets replaced twice. The first round gives the highest quality liquor, the third and last round the lowest.

The wooden channel leads the condensate into a jar or bottle.

The lack of temperature control given by the simple equipment results in a concentration of only about 10% aocohol, rather compareable with wine than with most other liquors. The end product has a somewhat caseous taste, with a slightly rancid note. It may take some getting used to, but Mongol Arkhi of reasonable quality is definitively palatable. On the other hand, the result of the third distillation phase can sport a taste as if a heard of goats had been marching through.

Other than with uncontrolled distillation of brandy and other fruit liquors, there's no risk to create methyl alcohol. The infamous "wood alcohol" originates from cell material of the plants (peels, stems). Since Mongol Arkhi is prepared exclusively from milk without any vegetable ingredients, it is impossible for the fermentation to produce any methyl alcohol.