The Mongolians say: Meat is for people to eat, grass is for animals to eat! But the price of cabbage in Mongolia is comparable to mutton

Hello everyone, I am Reading World, and many readers have sent me private messages about how to eat and use Mongolian beef and mutton products, dairy products, and various special fruits and vegetables. Today, I will give you a systematic introduction to Mongolian food culture. The full text is 4,500 words, no nonsense, and it is expected to be read in ten minutes.

Mongolia, referred to as Mongolia, is located between China and Russia. It is a landlocked country surrounded by both countries. The capital and largest city in the country is Ulaanbaatar. This is a country close to the north of our country. Although it is close and has a close relationship with us in history, it is completely different in terms of diet. Mongolians often say: "Meat is for people to eat, and grass is for animals." This sentence is a true portrayal of Mongolia. They are keen on meat and cannot even eat vegetables and fruits a few times throughout the year.

Let’s talk about Mongolian food culture in detail

< p> Mongolian food has a very close relationship with its long nomadic culture, and is also influenced by the food of Russia, China and other Central Asian countries. The staple food of Mongolian people is boiled lamb, Tibetan dumplings and a mixture of goat milk, cow's milk, Camel milk or horse milk tea. Many foods are very greasy. In Mongolia, treating low cholesterol has never been a problem. However, vegetables and fruits are relatively scarce here. First of all, in the consciousness of Mongolians, the land should be planted with grass. It is food for livestock. Secondly, Mongolia’s climate environment does not support the growth of most vegetables and fruits.

Dairy products are an important dietary item for Mongolians. They call dairy products white food. Products or animal meat are called red foods. The raw materials of white foods include milk from cows, horses, sheep, goats, camels and reindeer; mare's milk has the highest nutritional content among all kinds of milk, and mare's milk is also very popular in Mongolia

The most common thing in Mongolia is mutton. The smell of mutton is everywhere in Mongolia, and it penetrates into every corner, even money. In addition to mutton, mutton appears on the menu of any restaurant in Mongolia. All parts, including the heart, intestines, kidneys, eyeballs, brain, head and tail, are eaten, and sheep heads are considered a delicacy. Mongolians generally do not eat horse meat (Kazakhs do not eat much chicken and pork). Eat horse sausage), but eat beef and goat meat, and in some places people eat camel meat

Mongolians do not traditionally eat bread, vegetables or fruits, but most Mongolians are influenced by their surroundings. People began to embrace these new foods. Some Mongolians still refused to eat vegetables "for health reasons". Bread and pastries were introduced from the Russians and incorporated into their own culinary dishes, which were made from milk and flour. , meat and flour baked with sour cream, and steamed meat pies made with sweet dough. In 2012, The Economist reported: "Just look at Mongolia's agricultural output. You can vividly feel how difficult it is for vegetarians to survive here. Three meats top the list: lamb, beef and goat. Potatoes performed well, above camel meat but below horse meat. Carrots, cabbage and onions are all featured, but only as an afterthought. The title of a discussion thread on an Internet forum aptly sums it up: "Mongolia: The world's least vegetarian place

In Mongolia, the only Indian curry houses in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, are almost exclusively available. There are several vegetarian dishes that can only be eaten in various Western and Chinese restaurants.

In restaurants, requests for meat-free food usually cause curiosity and confusion among people around you. Mongolian newspaper "UB Post" estimates that the country has. 2,500 vegetarians. According to other reports, the number of vegetarians may exceed 30,000. Professor Oyuntsetseg of the Mongolian University of Science and Technology told UB Post that stroke and stomach and liver cancer are the leading causes of death in Mongolia, and that a vegetarian diet would help. To reduce risks.

There are a lot of vegetables in many places, but they are also very expensive. A cabbage costs more than 50 yuan, let alone fruits. If you have money, there is no place to buy them. There are only four major items from Mongolia: potatoes, carrots, onions, and kohlrabi.

Occasionally, there are large peppers and small persimmons that are not too fresh. Large peppers cost five yuan a piece, and small persimmons cost more than ten yuan a pound.

White food is a kind of silvery white food. It is called "Chagan Yide" in Mongolian and "white food" in Chinese. It is usually made from pure milk of horses, cows, sheep or camels. There are many kinds of it, and Mongolians think it is very delicious and nutritious, saying that it has "the good qualities of hundreds of foods." Mongolian milk foods are regarded as daily food, served to guests at banquets, and as religious offerings. Mongolian milk foods and the way they are made vary from region to region, but they mainly consist of milk rinds, cream, cheese, and milk tofu.

Milk skin, "Wu Rimo" in Mongolian, is made from pure milk. Preparation method: 1) Pour fresh milk into the pot and bring to a boil over slow heat. 2) Then, mix with a spoon and pour fresh milk into the pot from time to time. 3) The fire cannot be extinguished until condensation appears and floats to the surface. 4) After a few hours, after the milk skin has solidified, slowly pick up the milk skin with chopsticks and wipe away the water embedded in it. 5) Fold it in half. 6) Can be provided as food after drying. Mongolians and many Chinese believe that milk skin is not only nutritious but also has medical value. It is recorded in the Yuan Dynasty's "Dietary Essentials": "The milk skin is cool and refreshing, good for clearing the lungs. In addition to satisfying your thirst and preventing you from coughing, it also helps darken and lighten the color of your hair, and Also has therapeutic properties in vomiting blood. ”

Cream and butter can be prepared and cooked in a variety of ways and go by many different names. Typically, it is fermented from fresh milk kept in barrels, pots, or other containers. Method for making cream and butter: 1) After the milk becomes sour, stir the milk continuously with a stick until the milk and oil separate. 2) Remove the white fat floating on top, which is the cream. Mongolians say that if the cream is mixed with food, or fried with rice or noodles, it tastes good. 3) Butter can be extracted if the cream is heated in a boiler and stirred slowly. This is butter. The stuff under the butter is ghee residue. Mongolians and Tibetans believe that butter is the essence of milk because it contains a variety of nutrients that help relieve physical and mental fatigue and achieve spiritual tranquility. In addition, butter can moisturize the lungs, relax muscles and joints, brighten eyes, and extend life.

Mongolian cheese More or less the same as yogurt. Preparation method: 1) Pour fresh milk into a container, such as a jar, pot or basin. 2) After the milk is gradually fermented and coagulated, the coagulated product separated from the whey is cheese. In the Chifeng area, they make cheese by: 1) heating fresh milk in a boiler; 2) then mixing it with a spoon while separating out the floating foam and putting it in another pot where it solidifies and turns into cheese (yoghurt ). Cheese can be eaten alone or mixed with rice or other foods. Mongolians say it is delicious, and it can relieve the summer heat and help people rejuvenate.

Milk tofu is a method of making tofu from milk: To make it: 1) Pour the yogurt that has been extracted from the cream into a pot and boil it to allow the water in it to evaporate. 2) After the milk has solidified, put it into the mold. It is usually eaten after drying in the sun or shade. Another way to make it is: 1) Cool the yogurt after heating, then strain and squeeze it into a piece of cheesecloth. 3) Press into different shapes. Depending on the production process, the taste of milk tofu is usually sweet or sour. If sugar is added, the taste will be better. Dried tofu can be stored for long periods of time. It can be fried with rice, used to make milk tea, and taken as solid food on ranches or on long journeys.

Mongolians traditionally do not eat with chopsticks. They usually use a spoon, fork or knife or just their hands. The cooked meat is served with a knife in a large male bowl. Today, in Inner Mongolia and other parts of China, many Mongolians eat with chopsticks and observe the same dietary customs as the Chinese.

Upon entering the yurt, guests can enjoy milk tea in a bowl and a food plate with a variety of cheeses, breads and cookies. Guests use their right hand to receive what is offered to them, with the left hand providing support at the elbow; pick up things with an open hand and upturned palm; and place their tea bowls at the bottom rather than at the top.

Visitors should respond to the host's enthusiasm by taking at least a small piece or a taste of what is offered to them. Otherwise it will be considered very impolite. At the same time, don’t devour everything in sight. An empty bowl or plate means not enough food. It's best to leave a little in your bowl or plate if you don't want to be so full that you can't walk. Kazakhs indicate that they want no more by placing their hands on a bowl or plate.

"Water stew" is the traditional way for Mongolians to eat meat. The method of making stew is: first, take off the bones of the meaty mutton, sacrifice it, peel off the skin, remove the entrails as well as the head and head. Then, cut the whole sheep into several large pieces and simmer the meat in boiled water for a while. When the water boils and the meat is fully cooked, remove the meat and place it on the table on a large plate.

Everyone uses Mongolian knives to cut the meat into small pieces. The traditional way of nomads showing respect, love, enthusiasm to their guests is by proposing toasts and serving hand-made stew. Distinguished guests entering a ger are usually given a silver bowl or gold cup filled with kumis or tea, and a long piece of silk used by Tibetans and Mongolians as a greeting gift, sometimes accompanied by a greeting song given to guests from afar. guest. If the guest does not want to drink, he should compliment the taste of the other food and return the bowl or cup to the host. If a guest refuses to do so, it is considered a great insult to the host.

Lamb, soup and dumplings are traditionally served at all meals in Mongolia for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A meal without them is considered incomplete. Mongolians start their day with a light breakfast (milk tea) between 7:30 and 8:30 am. Lunch is served from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm and usually includes lamb, noodle soup or dumplings. Sunday meals tend to be bigger and have more dishes. Dinner is usually served between 6:30pm and 8:00pm and usually revolves around some kind of lamb dish.

The standard meal on the train is borscht, rice with a slice of overcooked beef, fresh peppers, cooked potatoes, a piece of tough meat, zucchini, sweet rolls and tea. A typical meal at a ger camp includes cabbage salad, noodle soup, stew, rice, crackers, and beer. Picnic meals on the prairie include corn salad, noodle soup, beef rice, and orange desert. Fresh milk and yogurt are often purchased from pastoral areas in the area.

Mongolians are traditionally accustomed to eating meat every day. If they don't eat meat for a few days, they become grumpy and abnormal. After stuffing themselves with mutton, they were happy again. Horse meat is sometimes eaten, but this is usually only consumed during religious ceremonies and festivals, as horses enjoy an almost sacred status among the Mongols. As a people of the steppes, they traditionally roast meat over an open fire - or if it's not so tender, boil it. Goat or lamb can be roasted whole, or in sections, such as a leg of lamb.

Mongolian hot pot is a traditional winter dish in northern China. Frozen tofu, soy flour noodles, beef and lamb are cooked in a hot pot in boiling oil and broth with other ingredients and spices. It is not a Mongolian dish as it is an adaptation of a Chinese dish. At hot pot restaurants, customers often cook ingredients in their own individual pots or in group-serving pots heated by burners under the tables. When the ingredients are ready, you use chopsticks to lift them from the pot, dip them in the delicious sauce, and pop them into your mouth. Hot pot was created by the nomads on the Mongolian grasslands. In addition to hot pot, Mongolian barbecue is also popular, with meat, poultry and vegetables picked by customers and served on a large grill.

The ample size of the Mongolian BBQ griddle allows several diners' food to be cooked simultaneously on different parts of the griddle. Each dish will be stirred in turn as the operator walks around the outside of the grill and turns each diner's food in succession. Once cooking is complete, each finished dish is scooped into a bowl and handed to diners. Many Mongolian barbecue restaurants use an "all-you-can-eat" buffet style.

Some Mongolians consider eating fish taboo. This is a Tibetan custom. Eating fish is as abhorrent to Tibetans as eating pork is to Muslims and eating beef is to Hindus. There are several reasons why Tibetans don’t eat fish. 1) Fish sometimes eat the bodies of the deceased ("water burial" - dumping the body in a lake where the fish can eat it - is one of five ways to dispose of a body). 2) The water is considered sacred (fishing disturbs the water); 3) Fish don't have tongues, so they can't gossip. Tibetans hate gossip.

The best and most hygienic food is usually found in expensive hotel restaurants or restaurants that cater to foreign tourists. A restaurant and sidewalk stall run by a local family usually sells cooked lamb and dumplings and little else.

Many new restaurants have opened in recent years. These sometimes offer a wide variety of food, as well as good service. Often the best food is home-cooked food served at a hotel or ger camp. Most modern Mongolian restaurants offer Russian and European dishes.

In Ulaanbaatar, you can enjoy European, Chinese and Korean cuisine. There are even some Japanese and Mexican gourmet restaurants. Outside of Ulaanbaatar, if you're lucky you can find a restaurant. What you will find mainly are canteens selling mutton, soup and dumplings.

Restaurants generally allow smoking and the sale of alcohol. Mongolians don't use chopsticks to eat. They usually use a spoon, fork or knife or just their hands. In many average restaurants, the menu is usually redundant, considering that usually they only have a choice of one or two meals. Some restaurants turned into bars with lots of drinks and alcohol in the evening. Menus with prices are usually not placed on the table.