Eating habits of the Mongols
Author: Wei Duo
The dietary structure of the Mongols varies greatly due to the different production methods and areas of residence: the Mongolians living in the agricultural areas are basically the same as the Han Chinese in terms of diet, mainly grain and vegetables; the Mongolians living in semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral areas, grain, milk food and meat are eaten together; mongolians living in pastoral areas still maintain traditional eating habits, mainly milk and meat, called "white food" and "red food".
The Mongolian diet is divided into two categories: beverages and food.
Mongolians have three types of drinks: milk tea, yogurt seeds and milk wine. Milk tea, also known as "Mongolian tea", is boiled with brick tea and water, fished out the tea leaves and then added to the fresh milk boiled, drinking with a small amount of salt, dairy products or fried rice, whether it is pastoral or semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral areas, milk tea has always been a drink that Mongolians can not do without. Yogurt is to put fresh milk into the tank, covered and sealed natural fermentation, after a few hours the taste is slightly sour can be drunk, yogurt is sweet and sour, milk flavor is fragrant, nourishing appetizer, and can relieve drowsiness, is the best cool drink in hot summer. Milk wine is made from the milk of livestock, especially mare's milk brewed milk wine is of the best quality, because mare's milk is high in sugar and high in moisture, which is not suitable for direct drinking, but is more suitable for winemaking. The alcohol content of horse milk wine is generally about 20 degrees, both the mellow aroma of white wine, but also the sweetness of rice wine, moderate drinking can digest the stomach, relax the muscles and activate the blood, but the staying power is larger, should not be drunk, once drunk, it is difficult to wake up for a short time. The process of brewing horse milk wine is very complicated, according to the Ming Dynasty's "Beiyu Customs", it is recorded: "The first taker of horse milk is too sweet to eat, and the second or third day is too sour to eat, but the wine is made." Its wine is no different from shochu, starting with milk burning, followed by wine, so that three or four times, the wine tastes the thickest. "That's the description of the process of making mare's milk wine. Generally speaking, 100 pounds of mare's milk can brew about 5 pounds of milk wine, so it is the drink of the Mongols to entertain distinguished guests, and it is also the royal drink of the Qing Dynasty in the past.
The Mongolians also have many types of dairy foods. One is butter, also known as ghee, which is made by fishing out the fat on the surface of fresh milk and filtering it with a coarse cloth, and then boiling it in a pot. Butter is the best in dairy food, rich in nutrition, frankincense, is a good accompaniment to entertain guests. The second is white oil, which is the cream left over from the refining butter, which is slowly condensed in the lamb tripe. The third is the milk skin, in late summer and early autumn, the cow and sheep fat body, so the milk concentration is very high, put it into the pot to boil, with a spoon repeatedly poured, after cooling the thick milk fat will form a honeycomb-shaped milk skin cake, called milk skin. The fourth is milk tofu, the milk residue left over from the milk skin is boiled dry and put into a cloth bag and put into a wooden mold, and after drying, it is milk tofu. The fifth is cheese, which is to put the remaining milk left over from butter in a hot place, slightly sour, and then press the precipitated powder into shape, dry and eat.
The meat of the Mongols is mainly beef and mutton.
There are many ways for Mongolians to eat mutton, the most commonly used method is "hand meat". People generally choose meaty and tender sheep, press it down, use a knife to cut open the chest cavity, reach out and cut off the blood vessels of the heart arteries, leave the blood flowing into the vessel to make blood sausages, and then peel off the sheep skin, remove the head and hooves and internal organs, cut the whole sheep into dozens of pieces, put it into white water and boil, do not add any spices, and when the water is boiled, the lamb will be fished out, placed on a wooden plate, and cut and eaten while hot. Slaughtering sheep and boiling ready-to-eat lamb in this way is delicious and nutritious. The second method of eating mutton by the Mongols is "sheep's back", that is, the whole sheep is cut from the back to the tail into a section, the neck, limbs and shoulder blades are each divided into sections, put into a pot with salt, green onions and a little seasoning, boiled, and eaten in a large dish. Many sheep's back methods are also very exquisite, and are generally used to entertain guests. The most exquisite way for Mongolians to eat lamb is to "roast whole lamb". First of all, the sheep is removed from the head hooves, fur and internal organs, and then the whole is put into the pot to cook and fished out, coated with spices and cooking oil and grilled with charcoal, and after the skin is scorched, it is placed on a copper plate in a crawling position, and everyone sits around and eats with a Mongolian knife. Roasted whole lamb is only made during festive festivals and solemn ceremonies, and there are many exquisite arrangements and eating methods.
Mongolians usually do not eat beef often, after autumn and winter, cattle are slaughtered and cut into strips of meat, placed in a shaded and ventilated place for many days, and then stored in winter to eat, called "air-dried beef". In addition, the Mongols also ate venison, camel meat, rabbit meat, and later under the influence of the Han people also ate pork, but because they were not used to it, they ate very little. The Mongols prohibited the consumption of dog meat, horse meat and fish.
Editor: Ren Ruixin
Ren Ruixin, pen name, starry sky, Tumut Mongolian, Tumut Left Banner Bikeqi Town Water Mill Cattle Herd House Villager, college education, today's headlines China Yinshan Writers Network founder, Inner Mongolia Writers Association member, Tumut Historical Research Association member, Tumut Left Banner Network Association member, Tumut Left Banner New Federation member. Always adhering to the tenet of "meeting friends with culture and people with culture", we are now committed to the study of Tumut's history and culture and the inheritance of national culture.