Khuushuur-muushuur

One question that I get asked a lot by both Americans in the States, and by Mongolians, is about what I eat in Mongolia. Inevitably this is followed by, “Can you cook Mongolian food?” If you say yes, and then your Mongolian friends may ask you to help them cook some buuz or huushuur, or other such meat and dough dish, at which point, they’ll realize that you cook at about the level of a Mongolian seven year-old (because you lack the dough rolling and pinching skills that people here seem to be born with). Case in point: Phil’s Mongolia-shaped huushuur— which, although it looks nothing like a Mongolian’s huushuur, is great for teaching geography.(Key cities have been labled for your benefit.)


If you say no, that you can’t make Mongolian food, you cause your Mongolian friends to worry because they are likely to think that if you can’t make Mongolian food, you obviously can’t cook, which means that you must be starving! I’ve had to reassure many people that I can indeed cook noodles and soup and meat.