Post by Dread Gnat on Nov 12, 2012 23:37:11 GMT -5
The Coatl:
Bansh
Ingredients
Noodle Dough
250 g Flour
1.5 dl Water
Filling
300 g Minced Meat (Traditionally, mutton is used, other types of meat such as beef work jjust as well. Fat meat is considered to be of higher quality, but there's no problem in using western style lean meat.
1 onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3-5 tsp water
salt, pepper & carraway to taste
Prepare the Filling
Mix minced meat, onion and garlic.
Add water until the mass is smooth to work with.
Add enough salt and spices (the dough has no salt).
Prepare the dough
Mix flour and water to create a pliable dough. Let it rest for 15 min.
Cut the dough into 2 cm (0.8 in) thick slices, roll the slices.
Cut the rolls into pieces of 3 cm (1.2 in), flatten the pieces with a finger.
Form the pockets
The decorative design of the bansh is a matter of honor for the cook. At first, the result will probably look a bit clumsy. Mongolian experts produce small miracles in no time almost without looking.
The pieces of dough are rolled into circles of about 7 cm (2.8 in) diameter, making the center slightly thicker than the edge.
It is best only to roll as many circles you can process further within a few minutes. Forming the pockets will be more difficult when the dough is already starting to get dry.
Hold one circle the open hand (the left one for righties) and place about one tea spoon of the meat mass in the center.
Fold the circle in half with fingers and palm, so that the edges meet over the meat.
Connect the edges with the other hand:
At the near end, press the two edges together.
Alternatingly form a little loop of either edge, and press it onto the already closed part with a little offset.
A seam is created that looks like braided from the sides.
When reaching the far end, close it by pressing it together.
Several variations are possible, like starting from both ends, and let the "braids" meat in the center.
The Cooking
The finished Bansh are boiled in Water.
Place in boiling, moderately salted water.
At first, the Bansh will sink to the bottom.
Let them boil for about 10 minutes.
The Bansh are finished when they all rise to the surface.
Tsuivan
Noodles
300 g Flour
2 dl water
oil
Stew
200 g meat without bones (Traditionally, mutton is used, other types of meat such as beef or pork work just as well.)
350 g White cabbage and carrots, other vegetables at will
1 onion, cut in half rings
2 garlic cloves, minced
2-4 dl water
spring onions, cut in rings
salt, pepper to taste
oil
Prepare the noodles
Mix flour and water to create a pliable dough. Let it rest for 15 min.
Seperate in two pieces and roll into round sheets.
Pour some oil in the center of one sheet. Disperse it over the surface by temporarily folding the sheet together from different directions.
Place the second sheet on top of the first one, and disperse oil on it in the same way.
Cut the two sheets in half, and place one half on top of the other with the oiled surface looking up again.
Cut the now four sheets in half, and place one of the quarters on top of the other in the same way.
From now on, cut in half in the same direction twice, until you get a stack of a size of about 7x25 cm (~ 3x10 in), about 5 cm (~ 2 in) tall.
From this stack, cut the noodles about 0.4 cm (~ 0.2 in) wide.
The noodles should still stick together as little stacks!
Cook vegetables and meat
Cut the vegetables into narrow stripes.
Cut the meat into small pieces (about half the size as for a gulash).
Take a large pot and sauté half of the onion rings slightly on oil.
Add the carrot stripes and sauté them for a few minutes as well (also any other types of vegetables that require long cooking).
Add the meat and sauté as well.
Add some water as required so that nothing sticks.
Season well with garlic, salt, and pepper.
Add the cabbage, and let it cook under a closed lid for a few minutes to reduce the volume.
Add water, until it reaches about 2/3 of the vegetables.
Let everything simmer for a few minutes.
Add the remaining onion rings.
Cook the stew
Place the noodle stripes carefully on top of the vegetables, so that they keep sticking together in stacks.
Close the lid! The lid must remain closed until the end, because the noodles are cooked by the steam from the boiling water below.
Keep the water boiling for about 15 min. First on medium heat for the steam to replace the remaining air in the pot, then on small heat.
At the end the water in the pot should be almost completely gone.
Open the lid. The noodle stripes have taken a slightly reddish-brown color, and are somewhat sticky at the outside.
Take a small cutting board (or something similar) to fan fresh air into the pot - the noodles turn dry at the surface, lose their stickyness, and change their color some more.
Use a fork or some chop sticks to seperate the noodles from each other. They should not stick to each other anymore. - Sticky noodles means that either there wasn't enough oil in between, or they haven't finished cooking yet.
Shuffle everything to mix the ingredients.
Add some spring onion rings at will.
Horhog
Ingredients (10 servings):
1 half medium sheep
Water
Potatoes (optional)
Carrots (optional)
Yellow turnips (optional)
Bell pepper (optional)
Garlic sprouts (optional)
Seasonings:
Salt
Pepper (optional)
Onion (optional)
Garlic (optional)
Spices (optional)
Cooking gear:
20-liter aluminum can
20-25 medium-sized smooth stones (10 sm x 10 sm)
Firewood
Cooking time:
Approximately 2.5 hours
First heat stones on firewood on open fire. It is important to select the right stones, as not all stones are good for cooking horhog. Stones must be river stones that are smoothly shaped and medium sized. Stones must be thoroughly heated until almost red. If heated correctly, stones usually do not retain any smoke and have a clean surface.
While stones are heated, prepare meat for cooking. Cut meat in large pieces with bones. If you are cooking a more western-oriented horhog, prepare also vegetables. Wash and peel potatoes, carrots, turnips and onions. Some people add also garlic sprouts.
Pour 4 liters of water (cold or warm) in a 20-liter aluminum can. The amount of water depends on how much bouillon you would like to have in your horhog.
Put seasonings in water. Then start putting meat layering it with hot stones. If you are cooking together vegetables, put them always on top.
Close can tightly and leave the meat to cook for an hour and a half. The meat is supposed to cook on its own purely by the heat of hot stones. However, it sometimes needs additional heating, which you can provide by putting the can on slow open fire. Extra heating may be required due to several reasons. The meat may not be properly layered with hot stones or the number of stones may not be enough for the amount of meat being cooked.
When the cooking is done, carefully open the can and let the vapors out. First, pull out the stones and pile them aside. Meat and bouillon are usually served separately.
Hushuur
Ingredients:
Meat filling
Minced beef or mutton
Medium onion
Salt
Ground pepper (optional)
Garlic (optional)
Chopped herbs (optional)
5-spices (optional)
Dough
Premium wheat flour
A pinch of salt
Lukewarm water
Preparation and cooking time:
Approximately 30 minutes
For the dough
Dissolve a pinch of salt in lukewarm water, mix in flour and knead into smooth soft dough. Leave the dough to rest. Knead again and cut into pieces (the size depends on whether you like small, medium and large hushuur). Roll the pieces into balls and leave them rest in a bowl. Sprinkle with flour to avoid from sticking together. The balls will be then rolled out into circles that will be folded in half to enclose the filling in a semi-circle or canoe shape.
For the meat filling
Mince beef or mutton. You can certainly use a Moulinex for this purpose; however, hushuur will taste better if you do the mincing by hand using a sharp knife. Combine the meat in a bowl with minced onion, crushed garlic (optional), herbs (optional) and other seasonings.
The next stage is forming hushuur. Roll out the dough ball into circles. Be careful and do not make the circles too thin. Otherwise, hushuur will crack during frying letting the meat juices out into hot oil and the frying process will turn into a nightmare. Put the meat filling on one side of the circle, fold in half and cover the filling with the other side. Then, start sealing the edges firmly. Just before sealing the hushuur completely, leave a small hole and press the hushuur to make it flat and let the air out. This touch is supposed to prevent hushuur from cracking during frying.
When forming is complete, fry hushuur uncoated in deep fat. Traditionally, hushuur have been fried in bouillon fat remained from cooking meat. Nowadays, Mongolians use any vegetable oil from a nearby supermarket.
Fried hushuur must be served hot. Some people like to cover them for some time to make them soft. If you prefer crispy hushuur, do not cover and serve immediately after frying.
Pyartan
Ingredients:
Meat (beef or mutton)
Salt
Onion
Pepper and other seasonings (optional)
Dough
Premium wheat flour
A pinch of salt
Water
Cooking time:
Approximately 30 minutes
Cut the meat into thin slices, put in cold water, add salt and boil. Usually, Mongolians do not use lean meat because it does not produce a good bouillon. Therefore, leave the fat on and slice it together with meat. You can put bones with some meat to make the bouillon heartier. Such bones are removed when the bouillon is ready. While the bouillon is being cooked, prepare the dough.
Dissolve a pinch of salt in cold water, mix in flour and knead into smooth but enough hard dough. Leave the dough to rest. Knead again and roll out thinly. Cut into stripes of 2-3 sm wide, put 3-4 stripes on each other layering with sprinkles of flour to avoid sticking and cut out thin rectangles.
Put the thin dough rectangles into the boiling bouillon and boil for 4-5 minutes. You can also randomly tear pieces from the dough stripes into the bouillon. Add thinly sliced onion
Ul Boov
Heat up two liters water until warm - just a little above body temp so you can stand to stick your finger in it for a while.
Add about 400 grams of butter to it and let melt - better if you use clarified butter (shar tos). Then add 1.5 tea cups sugar and a teaspoon of salt.
Mix in enough flour until you can knead it and make a firm dough. Knead it for a few minutes, then let it rest 20 mins, then knead it to death. It's kneaded enough when you cut a slice with a knife and there are no bubbles left in it - the more solid you can make the dough the more authentic this will turn out. One person can usually manage this in 10 to 20 mins.
Once its kneaded, grab off a piece of dough enough to form a small log about 15 to 20 cm long and 7 to 10 cm diameter. Flatten it to about a centimeter and a half thick, it should form a piece shaped like a racetrack. about as big as a small foot (that’s why its called ul boov, it is shaped like a footprint). Leaving a rim about a 1.5 to 2 cm wide, press in the center to make a depression, leaving the outer edge taller (like a pizza crust with the rim). The thickness of the crust at the center must be almost 1 cm thick or it will break during frying. Usually Mongolians carve a stamp out of wood to make a decorative design in the center of the boov. You can try to make a stamp if you like, if you can't just try and make the bottom as flat as possible, otherwise your boov will warp. Now, the rims (your pizza crust bit) are much thicker than the center. If you cook it this way the rims on the long sides can explode in the oil. Flip over the boov gently and using a thin sharp knife, make a shallow cut along the length of the two longer crusts from the back side of the boov. Cut in the center line and only go about halfway through. All you want to do is make a slit in the bottom of the pizza rim bits to let any pressure escape, make sure you don’t cut all the way through to the front or through the short sides of the boov. Stop each slash before you get to the two shorter ends, the rounded crust ends never explode so you don’t need to slash these.
As you start shaping your boov, heat a large kettle about half full of cooking oil. Most Mongolian use beef tallow but that’s because it's what they have at home, you can use any kind of cooking oil that withstands frying well. Make sure the kettle is stable and keep kids and pets away from where you are frying. The oil is hot enough when it looks like its boiling when you drop a bit of boov in. If the oil is not hot enough the boov will soak up too much oil. Drop in no more boov in than can float comfortably on top of the oil side by side in your kettle. If its crowded it doesn’t work. When you first drop them in they will sink. Then they will float. Once they float, turn them very gently occasioanlly, so they cook evenly, and let them cook until they become a tan/orange color. They should not be brown. Lift them out and drain.
Once they are all cool you can build your tower by stacking them. You should always make an odd number of layers. Traditionally, grandparents have 7 layers of Ul boov, parents – 5 layers, and young couples – 3 layers. For a three layer stack you need minimum of 6 pieces of perfect boov, which you should be able to get out of the two liter of water recipe above. One or two may warp :-) Place two side by side with a space in between, and lay another two crosswise on top of these. Most of the other stuff is piled on the top later, not sandwiched between the lower ones, although its ok to tuck a piece if aruul into the small gaps. Layer with aruul, hard cheese, wrapped candies, and sugar cubes.
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Recipes courtesy of Molly Rabe