A Guide to Eating in Mongolia

This is the first in a series of posts from Deepali Patel, a native of Washington D.C. and Fulbright Fellow working in Mongolia.  This week, her guide to eating in Mongolia. Read more on her blog

Mongolia is a country of superlatives.  Lowest population density, coldest capital, most cars per capita…and also most livestock per capita, at about 15 to 1. Couple that last stat with a cold, dry climate, and it is no wonder that the consumption of meat is much higher than in other parts of the world. And therein lies the “worst food ever” perception many people have about Mongolia, because meat isn’t just juicy steaks and fried chicken, it’s also internal organs and appendages, leading to some rather uncommon dishes.

In Mongolia, where winter temperatures sit in the sub-zero double digits, food isn’t just for pleasure; it’s about survival: hearty chunks of piping hot fat, nutrient-rich livers and crispy charred skin help you get through the cold nights. Seasoning is not a common concept in Mongolia, but tasting a food item au naturel, while sometimes an acquired taste, is a good reminder of how real organic food should taste.

But to dismiss Mongolia as a country of meat-eaters is to miss out on some really tasty cuisine. For starters, wheat is actually the most commonly consumed item here, prepared in a few different ways and using a variety of cooking methods.  You’d be surprised at the delicious results that can come from mixing flour with water.  Bread in the countryside is light and fluffy, and for the lucky few traveling through Khentii and Selenge provinces, it has an extra hint of flavor, not unlike sourdough.  Carved into hearty slices, it is topped with fresh cream or butter, and, for a few precious weeks in the fall, fresh berries (the rest of the year, local jam is substituted).  Stop into a Buryat family’s wooden cabin after a few hours riding horses, and the herder’s wife will usually present you with a plate of this delightful bread and cream.

Mongolian cuisine is most eclectic and imaginative when it comes to dairy.  The estimate for the number of different dairy products varies but is probably in the hundreds.  Part of this is due to the number of animals from which milk can be consumed – not just cows and goats, but also sheep, camels, yaks, horses, and, in the far north, reindeer.  Preparation is often similar, but the flavors can be vastly different.  In the countryside, herders’ wives milk livestock several times a day.  Milk is then boiled for immediate consumption, or further processed into yogurt, cream, or butter.  Though Mongolians don’t make cheese in the conventional sense, they make a variety of farmers’ cheeses, some of which is sweetened or salted before consuming.   Drying the curds turns them into hard candy-like morsels called aruul.  Aruul is sour in a mouth-twisting way, and sucking on a piece supposedly helps relieve thirst.

Airag, the local alcohol, looks and tastes like sour buttermilk but has the alcohol content of a beer! Taking airag, or any yogurt made from another animal’s milk and fermenting it some more, leads to another alcoholic beverage with the consistency and taste of sake.  It is surprisingly clear, but with a slight hint of yogurt or buttermilk, and an alcohol content of around 12-14%.

What the Mongolian diet lacks in variety of food groups, it makes up with its ingenuity.  From three simple products – meat, wheat, and milk – comes a huge variety of food items, both familiar and unfamiliar.  Experiencing the variety of the Mongolian diet is an essential part of a true cultural experience here.