Mongolian cuisine

Mongolian cuisinepredominantly consists ofdairy products,meat, andanimal fats. The most common rural dish is cookedmutton. In the city, steameddumplingsfilled with meat—"buuz"— are popular.
The extremecontinental climateofMongoliaand the lowest population density in the world of just 2.2 inhabitants/kmhas influenced the traditional diet. Use ofvegetablesandspicesare limited. Due to geographic proximity and deep historic ties withChinaandRussia, Mongolian cuisine is also influenced byChineseandRussian cuisine.
Mongolia is one of few Asian countries where rice is not a main staple food. Instead, Mongolian people prefer to eat lamb as their staple food rather than rice.
Wheat, barley, and buckwheat predominate more than rice in modern Mongolia.
Details of the historic cuisine of the Mongolian court were recorded byHu Sihuiin theYinshan Zhengyao, known to us from the 1456Ming Dynastyedition manuscript, also surviving in fragments from theYuan dynasty.Presented toTugh Temürin 1330, at the height of Mongol power and cultural influence, the Yinshan Zhengyao is a product of the cultural exchange (notably with the Islamic heartland inMongol Iran) that enriched the Mongol Empire.Food scholars consider the Yinshan Zhengyao evidence for the cultural influence of the Middle East on Mongol food culture, comparable to theColumbian exchange.
Wang Yuanlinggives an eyewitness report of a feast atKubilai Khan's court wherekumissis served with scallions and onions, horse meat, roast mutton, venison, quail, pheasant, diced chicken (tianji) and bear meat, with red wine andcongee.According toMarco Polothe Mongols hunted daily in December, January and February when the court was resident at the capital, with a portion of the lions, stags, bears and wild boars sent to the court of the Khan. The Khan was said to keep trained leopards, eagles, and wolves for hunting, and very fine lions that could hunt wild boars, cattle, stags and bears.
Little is known of the early Mongol cuisine, other than the assumption that it would be similar to the generalpastoral nomadicfoodways of the Steppe. Mongols supplemented the staples of the pastoral nomadic diet (mostly milk and herd) with hunting and gathering, especially as stores of dry curd and cheese grew scarce in the late winter months. Sheep were the most important product ofanimal husbandry, providing milk for dairy products, somefermentedgoods, and meat. Horses could provide milk for the iconickumys, and valued for their hearty, nutritious meat and blood. Less common herd animals were reindeers andsarlag,a type ofyak.
As far as hunting, Mongols hunted the wild animals of thesteppe. Themarmotis one such mentioned in the Yinshan Zhengyao. Grain was often limited in supply, mostly traded for or taken as pillage, although some evidence of agricultural activity is known from 12th century Western Mongolia. The importance of vegetables,fungiand fruits and berries is unknown, but speculated to have been significant. According to theSecret History,Genghis Khan's motherHoelunwas forced to resort to feeding her children from the pastures after theTatarspoisoned her husbandYesugei. The context of this story implies that these types of foods were consumed only out of necessity. The roots and wild fruits mentioned are:
The Yinshan Zhengyao features recipes with Central Asian influence, mostly in north China. Some difference continues in the present day and dishes with lamb, fancy breads and fried dumplings are more typical of north Chinese cuisine, while fish, rice, pork and vegetables are more common in the south.
Some recipes in Yinshan Zhengyao are similar to recipes frommedieval Arabic cookbooks. Scholars have proposed a possible West to East diffusion of the cookbook. Of the extant cookbooks, the Arab texts are the earliest and the similarity of Yinshan Zhengyao along with the timing of its compilation after the Mongol conquests may support a West to East diffusion or direct influence upon the Yinshan Zhengyao content, but there is no way to rule out the possibility of an independent Chinese origin.Lactic acid fermentationwas used to preserve dairy products like the dried yogurt calledkashkin Iran andqimaqin the Yinshan Zhengyao.
ThenomadsofMongoliasustain their lives directly from the products of domesticated animals such ascattle,horses,camels,yaks,sheep, andgoats, as well asgame.Meat is either cooked, used as an ingredient for soups and dumplings, such asbuuz,khuushuur,bansh,manti, or dried for winter (borts).The Mongolian diet includes a large proportion of animal fat which is necessary for the Mongols to withstand the cold winters and their hard work. Winter temperatures are as low as −40 °C (−40 °F) and outdoor work requires sufficient energy reserves. Milk and cream are used to make a variety of beverages, as well as cheese and similar products.
The nomads in the countryside are self-supporting on principle. Travelers will findgersmarked asguanzin regular intervals near the roadside, which operate as simple restaurants. In the ger, which is a portable dwelling structure (yurt is aTurkicword for a similar shelter, but the name is ger inMongolian), Mongolians usually cook in a cast-iron or aluminum pot on a smallstove, using wood ordry animal dung fuel(argal).
The most common rural dish is cookedmutton, usually without any other ingredients, though potatoes and carrots are common accompaniments in more well-to-do families. To accompany the meat, vegetables and flour products may be used to create side dishes as well. InUlaanbaatar, one can often see signs saying "buuz". Those are steameddumplingsfilled with meat. Other types of dumplings are boiled in water (bansh,manti), or deep fried inmuttonfat (khuushuur). Khuushuur is particularly popular during theNaadamfestival, where a particular variety is made that is slightly different to common Khuushuur. Other dishes combine the meat with rice or fresh noodles made into variousstews(tsuivan,budaatai khuurga) ornoodlesoups(guriltai shöl).Sülenis a type of hot pot dish.Gambir(Mongolian: гамбир, pronounced[ɢæmʲbʲĭɾ]) is a flatbread that is commonly made from flour and ghee, served on its own or with sugar.
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 abdominal cavity of a deboned goat ormarmot(boodog).
Milk is boiled to separate the cream (öröm,clotted cream).The remaining skimmed milk is processed into cheese (byaslag), driedcurds(aaruul),yogurt,kefir, and a light milk liquor (shimiinarkhi). The most prominent national beverage isairag, which is fermentedmare's milk.A popular cereal isbarley, which is fried and malted. The resulting flour (arvain guril) is eaten as aporridgein milk fat and sugar or drunk mixed in milky tea. The everyday beverage is salted milk tea (süütei tsai), which may turn into a robust soup by adding rice, meat, or bansh. As a result of the Russian influence during socialism,vodkahas also gained some popularitywith a number of local brands (usually grain spirits). Boortsogor bawïrsaq is a type offried doughfood found in the cuisines of Central Asia, Idel-Ural, Mongolia and the Middle East. It is shaped into either triangles or sometimes spheres. The dough consists of flour, yeast, milk, eggs, margarine, salt, sugar, and fat.
Horse meatis eaten in Mongolia and can be found in most grocery stores.
Mongolian sweets includeboortsog, a type ofbiscuitorcookieeaten on special occasions.
Vodkais the most popular alcoholic beverage;Chinggis vodka(named forGenghis Khan) is the most popular brand, making up 30% of the distilled spirits market.
The Mongol people had rules of hospitality and social support similar to the GermanicGastfreundschaft(where it was customary to extend hospitality even to enemies) and Arab Bedouin hospitality. An account of this survives in theSecret History of the Mongols: