The UB Post-Leading English News

This traditional delicacy has been handmade by Mongolian families for generations.

These delicious steamed dumplings are usually made with mutton or beef and onion mince, and variations from the original can include cabbage, potato, rice and other seasonal herbs.

Vegetarian buuz are equally as tasty and stuffed full, with soy products and other non-meat bits.

The dough casing is a simple mixture of flour and water, egg and salt are sometimes added.  Then the shell is folded over the innards and pinched shut, in a variety of ways depending on the maker’s preferred style.

So far, in UB, some of my favorite buuz establishments are:

- Vegie (as the name suggests, a vegetarian restaurant near the Bayangol Hotel, behind the Trade and Development Bank on Chinggis Avenue) makes a delicious vegetarian buzz. A plate of four large buuz costs about Tg3,000.

- The Corporate Hotel restaurant (also on Chinggis Avenue) serve plates of six large buuz at a cost of Tg4,000.

- UB Buuz (a cheaper restaurant chain which has outlets all over the city) provides quick and tasty plates of six small buuz for Tg600.

- The freezer at your local supermarket should stock a variety of meat and vegetarian buuz. Perfect for a quick snack or meal.

I’ll keep my fingers crossed that a plethora of Tsagaan Sar invitations will come my way on February 14. In preparation for the New Year, Mongolian families make buuz all night long; thousands of them.

Since the daily high temperatures hover around -15 all Winter, even the balcony is used as a freezer once the conventional one is full.
During the first three days of the New Year, each household keeps serving buuz, buuz and more buuz.

I’m told this is the only time of the year Mongolian’s can get “sick” of buuz.
A quick tip for the underfinanced traveler or volunteer: just place a sieve over a saucepan of boiling water, that works perfectly as a steamer.

All restaurants are reviewed anonymously and paid for by the reviewer 12/11/09