Children Of Genghis Khan

Ulaanbaatar, or UB as we affectionately call it, has been my home for the past 26 years.

- Delgermaa Nergui

Ulaanbaatar, or UB as we affectionately call it, has been my home for the past 26 years. I grew up in Bayangol district with my parents and two sisters. My family ran a small business selling clothes and shoes, so most of my childhood was spent helping out in the shop during my free time.

I attended the local primary school, then changed to a private one called Gurvan-Tamir Secondary School for its choice of subjects and a chance at a better education. There are 20 universities throughout my country, and I attended the Humanities University in Ulaanbaatar, studying for my Bachelors in Business Administration.

Everyone in my family can cook, and that is why I prefer to eat at home. We usually have buuz, which is Mongolian dumplings that are similar to the Chinese xiao long bao, but a little bit bigger in size. It’s stuffed with either mutton or beef. In Mongolia we hardly eat pork, because it’s considered an expensive sort of meat.

Because we are descended from a nomadic culture, traditionally only sheep, cows, camels, goats and horses could be herded along. That is why you will not see very much of pork, chicken nor seafood in our diet. Beef and mutton feature heavily in our cuisine.

At home, we also eat a lot of bansh (beef dumplings) and khuushuur (deep-fried curry puffs stuffed with beef). For a bit of carbohydrates, there’s tsuivan (hand-made fried noodles with vegetables), lapsha (a beef or mutton noodle soup similar to Vietnamese pho) or the niislel (potato salad).

Of all the foods that I mentioned, buuz and niislel are the most special ones. They are served during celebrations like birthdays and festive holidays, but is also a must-have food when having guests over.