One great experience we have had here in Mongolia is true Mongolian Barbeque!! Not the western-Chinese version in the states. Although we have 2 restaurants in the Capital that are like the ones in the US. But of course they were started by foreigners. I’m pretty sure one is here just to advertise that they have a location in Mongolia.
True Mongolian barbeque is called khor-khug. It is one of the only Mongolian meals that the men control. It starts with a very alive sheep, that is then killed and gutted. The women get the illustrious job of cleaning out the intestines and cutting up the vegetables. No part of the animal is wasted, and just to make sure there are normally a few dogs around looking to clean up any scraps. Yes all the preparation is done on the grass in the shade. As you can see in the pictures below. While some men are preparing the meat others start a fire and make sure there are plenty of hand sized rocks in the fire. After the intestines are stuffed with stomach and blood and the meat cut up in large chunks, water and salt are added to a large metal can. Then the men add the hot rocks, meat, and veggies in layers and the lid is closed and clamped down air tight. It is then left alone for a few hours. The tricky part is the very end when you have to take the lid off of what becomes a large pressure cooker. We were making 3 pots of it on this day and 2 of them exploded, as the men were taking the lid off, sending meat, steaming hot water and rocks shooting up in the air. If there are still rocks in the pot the tradition is to pass around the hot rocks and toss them like a hot potato between your hands. I must say that the meat is very tasty, just keep away from the intestines.
