The Food of White of Mongol Ethnic Group

Diet Structure in Different Regions

Overall Dietary Features

The traditional Mongolian diet is dominated by milk and meat, with grains as supplementary food. As living standards improve, dietary structures have undergone obvious changes, with the intake of cereals and vegetables rising greatly. Today, milk, meat and grains form a balanced dietary combination in pastoral areas.

Diet Differences by Regional Lifestyle

In semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral regions, cereals serve as the staple food, while meat and dairy products take a secondary place. By contrast, the proportion of meat and milk in purely agricultural areas is relatively low.

Introduction to Dairy Products

General Overview of Chagan Yide

Dairy products are called Chagan Yide (查干伊德) in Mongolian, which means "white food". They are mainly made from fresh milk of horses, cattle, sheep and camels. With rich varieties, delicious taste and abundant nutrients, dairy products rank among the finest foods in Mongolian cuisine and are praised as "essences of hundreds of delicacies". They are indispensable for daily meals, guest banquets, ancestor worship and religious rituals. Production methods and categories vary from place to place, and the most common types include milk skin, cream, cheese and milk curd.

Milk Skin (Wu Rimo)

Milk skin is named Wu Rimo (乌日莫) in Mongolian and made purely from fresh milk. The production steps are as follows: Pour fresh milk into a pot and simmer over low heat. Keep scooping and adding new milk from time to time until a layer of curd forms and floats on the surface, then turn off the fire. After several hours, honeycomb-shaped milk skin fully coagulates. Gently lift it with chopsticks to drain excess water, fold it in half, and dry it thoroughly for serving.

Milk skin is not only nutritious but also has medicinal values. According to Drinking and Dieting Zhengyao, a classic work compiled in the Yuan Dynasty, milk skin is cool in nature. It helps moisten the lungs, quench thirst and relieve cough. It can also darken and brighten hair, and work as a remedy for hematemesis.

Cream and Derivatives

Cream has diverse cooking methods and local names. To make it, store fresh milk in barrels or pots for natural fermentation until it turns sour. Stir continuously with a stick to separate milk and oil. Scoop off the white floating fat, which is cream. It tastes wonderful when mixed with staple foods, stir-fried with rice or noodles.

When cream is heated and churned slowly in a pot, it will turn into yellow butter. The residues left at the bottom are butter dregs. Known as the essence of milk, butter contains rich nutrients. It helps soothe the mind, calm the nerves, moisten the lungs, relax tendons and joints, improve eyesight and prolong life.

Cheese

Cheese is also known as yogurt curd. The basic making process is simple: Pour fresh milk into jars or basins. After natural fermentation and coagulation, separate the solid curds from whey to get cheese. In Chifeng area, people adopt another method: Heat fresh milk in a pot, scoop out the floating foam and transfer it to another container, which will turn into cheese after coagulation.

Cheese can be eaten directly or mixed with rice and other foods. It has a pleasant flavor and works well to relieve summer heat and refresh the body.

Milk Curd

There are two main ways to make milk curd. The first method: Take the leftover yogurt after cream extraction and boil it to evaporate water. Once the milk freezes, put it into various molds for shaping, then dry it in the sun or shade. The second method: Cool down boiled yogurt, wrap it with coarse cloth to filter and squeeze out water, then press it into different shapes.

The flavor of milk curd varies with recipes. It tastes sweet with added sugar and sour without sugar. Dried milk curd can be preserved for a long time. It is often paired with fried rice or milk tea for daily meals, and is also an ideal portable food for grazing and long journeys.