Mongolians drink more milk than anyone else on earth! Since many people in the country are herders and raise cattle, goats, sheep, and camels, there is lots of dairy and lots of meat in the Mongolian diet. Over the last two months, I have had the chance to try many different Mongolian foods, some of which might look familiar.
I have tried many Mongolian foods, including delicious barbeque, vegetable soup, and noodles with meat. But I am going to tell you about buuz (pronounced, butz), or meat dumplings: one of the most popular foods in Mongolia.
I was very excited to try buuz, because I usually love dumplings, but I was a little disappointed. Buuz, like many Mongolian foods, are very fatty. In Mongolia, the fattiest meat is considered the best meat, which may seem strange to us in the U.S.A. where we are taught not to eat so much fat! I thought the dumplings were very hard to chew, and they were not very flavorful since they are, besides meat, only made with salt, onion, and a little pepper. However, I am glad I tried buuz! It is important for me to step out of my comfort zone and try new foods, even if they are different from those I am used to.
