Mongolian Cuisine

(above) My approximation of a Mongolian meal with frozen dumplings made in Atlanta, looseleaf jasmine tea from China, dumpling sauce from Taiwan, Japanese tea cup, grape tomatoes from the Bi-Lo, and plate from Pier 1.

My Mongolian meal was inspired by a photo from the book Material World by Peter Menzel. The photo, taken inside a gher (round tent, like a yurt) of a Mongalian family dinner consisting of Mongolian mom made dumplings and cherry tomatoes. Mine were not homemade but purchased at the local Asian grocery store, in the frozen food case. It should be noted that if you go to your local Asian grocery store and it appears that they do not have any frozen dumplings, you should ask. At the one closest to my house, the store is rather small and some frozen items are kept in freezers that do not have glass, so you probably wouldn't know they are there.


These Asian dumplings are ridiculously easy to make because all you have to do is add the dumplings to boiling water. When they float to the top, they are done.

I recommend dipping them in dumpling sauce which can also be found at your local Asian grocery in a small bottle, near the soy sauce section.

In Mongolia, boiled dumplings are known as "bansh." A typical ingredient in Mongolia would be mutton, as the diet of that country consists of lots of meat and not a lot of vegetables. Mine are vegetable, leek, and pork flavor, with the pork flavor being barely discernible. I've had better flavors in the past and this one will probably not be purchased again.

I personally have never been to Mongolia although I did once have a long discussion with a former Peace Corps volunteer who spent two years there. What I remember most from that conversation is that the typical Mongolian greeting is translated as "How is your body?" What a bummer to live in that country where I would spend most of my day saying "Still sagging, thanks. How's yours?"

Mongolian cuisine myths: Mongolian barbecue restaurants, fun though they may be, are not actually Mongolian. They are actually more similar to a Japanese style of cooking. Mongolian beef served in Western restaurants also has nothing to do with Mongolia.

I found this link to a site with lots of mongolian recipes:

http://www.mongolfood.info/en/recipes/bansh.html