Mongolian Cooking 2

Khorkhog: Authentic Mongolian Barbecue

Real Mongolian barbecue is known as khorkhog and is a staple across the vast reaches of this country. It is usually made with mutton, which is cooked inside a pot containing burning rocks heated in an open fire. Vegetables are added to make a stew and the flavors are left to blend for several hours. This is best enjoyed inside a ger, a Mongolian yurt, where the food is served communally. The tour group Nomadic Journeys offers visitors the opportunity to stay in gers as they travel across the steppes experiencing nomadic culture first hand.

 

Tsuivan: Hearty Noodle Stew

 This is a noodle stew made with roughly cut noodles combined in a stock with meat, usually mutton, and vegetables. It is the Mongolian version of the noodle soup found throughout east Asia in various manifestations. Guriltai Shul is another variant in which the ingredients are made into a meat-based soup and is often combined with curd from yak’s milk. The consistency of the soup often depends on the season, as does the type of meat used and the spice level, which tends to rise as the bitterly cold winter sets in. This can be experienced at traditional Mongolian restaurants in Ulan Bator such as Taliin Mongol and CCCP, which both feature contemporary twists on simple Mongolian flavors.