Milk lump is a food that the Kazakh people in Xinjiang like to eat, and is called "Kuzute" (meaning dry) is the crystallization of milk (milk, goat milk). Milk knots are typical Of Xinjiang snacks, and "Hallati" in Kazakh is one of the delicacies in the daily life of the Kazakh people in Xinjiang. At the same time, milk lumps, or more delicious dairy products, are deeply liked by everyone. Milk lumps are cheese, in Xinjiang, soft cheese is generally called milk cake, dry is called milk lumps, and in Inner Mongolia is also called milk tofu.
There is a recognized golden milk source belt in the world, that is, between the north and south latitudes of about 40 ° -50 °, and the Altay region of Xinjiang is located at 45 ° 00 ′ 00 "-49 ° 10 ′ 45"N, with 140 million mu of four-season pasture, which is one of the major livestock regions in Xinjiang. In the summer summer in the Altay region of Xinjiang, not only the climate is cool and the scenery is beautiful, but also a good time for herders to make dry milk lumps every year, where most of the herders' fresh milk cannot be drunk, and the fresh milk that cannot be drunk is often made into yogurt and milk lumps to meet the needs of winter.
There are two kinds of milk lumps, one yogurt lump and one sweet milk lump, which can be oiled or not. Most of the methods rely on handicrafts, different ethnic groups have different methods, herders make milk lumps, first ferment the cow or goat milk, pour the fermented yogurt into the pot to boil, and then put it into a cloth bag to hang up, so that the water is drained, kneaded into small pieces by hand, and placed on a mat covered with mustard grass to dry. After the accumulation of time and strength, 10 kilograms of fresh milk can transform into less than 1 kilogram of yogurt lumps, and the purest taste of summer pasture is retained.
Milk lumps are generally divided into dry and wet two categories, the tradition is salty and sour, dry milk knots are generally this taste, I grew up eating this is this. Milk lumps look like dry frozen tofu residue, salty and salty... But after tasting it carefully, after the milk lumps were chewed, the small particles fainted on the tip of the tongue with a milky sour feeling and obsessed with the crunching sound of a mouthful. Because the yogurt lumps shed grease become more resistant to storage, although the taste is hard (hard no doubt) to eat more and more want to eat, Kazakh nomads go out to graze, will take two pieces of yogurt lumps into the portable kettle, in the process of riding and grazing, yogurt lumps in the bumps along the way, will slowly become broken, hard grazing process, stop the horse to drink a mouthful of juice mixed with yogurt lumps, that is, quench thirst and hunger. Wet milk lumps come in two flavors, salty and sweet, and wet milk lumps can be eaten directly or dried.
There are also non-skimming milk lumps and sweet milk lumps with sugar, non-skimmed milk lumps are mostly eaten by the elderly and children, to supplement calcium to increase nutrition, yogurt lumps have a certain special effect on various stomach diseases, almost in addition to the taste there is no place that is not suitable for eating.
Now there are also sweet milk lumps, more to cater to the market. The real traditional yogurt lumps, but few people ask for it, every time they want to eat, they entrust relatives and friends in their hometown to buy something at a Kazakh home to relieve their appetite.
Milk lumps are typical Xinjiang specialty snacks, and wanderers who go to school and work outside the home will always bring some milk knots from afar to remember the taste of their hometown.
Milk lumps, which are regarded as essential dry food for long journeys, have been active in the life of the grassland in the changing times, never stopping, and have become an indispensable food in their life imprint.