I'm way behind on writing up posts for my countries! I used to write posts the day I made each dish, then I started doing it a day after, and now I'm two weeks out from when I actually made food for Mongolia! That's okay though, because July is peak summertime in Vermont, and I've been taking advantage of it.
Like I said, I made Mongolian food two weeks ago, which coincided with the Naadam Festival, a national holiday that involves athletes competing in the "three games of Mongolia," wrestling, horse racing, and archery. The dish I made for this country is called "buuz" and I made two versions.
It starts with a dough, the first version being a very simple mix of flour and water.
The dough is kneaded until smooth, then left to rest for a little bit while prepping the filling.
The second dough I made was a yeasted dough, using the same recipe I used to make China's baozi (you can see the etymological connection there: baozi/buuz). I tweaked the recipe just a tiny bit and I think it actually turned out the best it ever has--I've made baozi three times now.
The filling is simply onion, garlic, and meat, usually mutton or beef. I used a veggie ground beef.
Once the first dough had rested, I rolled it into a log and cut it into 8 little pillows. Those pieces then got flattened and rolled and stretched into a 4-5 inch circle.
I actually took the time to try to form every dumpling semi-correctly. In the past I do like the first and second one and then give up and just make sure they're mostly closed.
You put some filling in the center of the circle, then you start by pinching a piece of the edge together. You pinch a piece next to that one, then pinch those pieces together. You go around the circle until you've crimped every piece you can.
You end up with a small hole on the top, which you can also pinch together, but leaving a hole allows steam to escape and it makes it look more fun.
Here's one batch formed, some better than others.
Then they go in a steamer basket, covered, for 15 minutes. When they're done, you take the lid off and fan them a bit to make them glossy.
For some reason, the ones with the simple flour and water dough turned out super brown. They did sit for about 45 minutes between finishing them and starting on the yeasted dough, then taking pictures, and sitting down to eat, so maybe that's why. They got tougher as they sat, so the bun version definitely tasted better.
The dough was soft and just chewy enough, and I think I did a better job making sure the circle was flattened out enough. The other two times I left the center/bottom too thick so I didn't get to fit as much filling inside. This time it seemed perfect. The bun to filling ration was just right, the dough was light and warm.
Even Rosie liked them! Just kidding, she sniffed and turned her head away. She's only interested in things that smell like fish.
Overall, these were great. Even for a country whose food is not very heavily spiced and is pretty reliant on meat. And I was able to make something I know I love: dumplings. I've probably said this before but when I'm done with this project, I might start a second one focused solely on dumplings from around the world. It'll be great, but I have a few more years until we're done here.
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