Two weekends in a row, Caleb and I have gotten to go into
the Mongolian countryside, or khodoo, to experience Mongolian BBQ, or khorkhog. The Mongolian countryside is a place in the middle of nowhere, where the only people around are the people you came with. You can see forever in the steppe, and you know you're in the khodoo when you can't see anyone else for miles in all directions.
The first time since being at site was two weekends ago on August the 28th.
The Director of Peace Corps Mongolia, Darlene Grant, AND the Chief of Staff of
ALL of Peace Corps, Laura M. Chambers, visited our city, along with the COS’s
assistant and a couple of other Mongolian Peace Corps staff. Peace Corps staff and
some Mongolians in our city helped plan the event and got us hooked up with a
family living in a herder’s ger in the countryside. Five of the M26’s from our
aimag attended. They even had a Morin Khuur player and singer give us a short
performance. Take a look at the video below!
The second time we went into the countryside was last
weekend, on Saturday the 5th. The teachers from my school invited
Caleb and I to join them in a beginning of the school year celebration for the
teachers. We were there for about 5-6 hours. During this trip, I learned
something very important: what happens in the khodoo stays in the khodoo. Therefore, I have much that I won’t write about concerning this
trip. It was fun, and I got to integrate with my teachers. Let’s leave it at
that.
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| By the river in the khodoo |
What I DO want to write about is this amazing thing called
khorkhog. I wrote about it briefly in one of my PST blogs posts, but now I’d
like to explain it a bit more and add pictures. I have had khorkhog (Mongolian
BBQ) I think 4-5 times. I was SO happy about the first countryside trip in
August, because it was Caleb’s first time having khorkhog. He was swooning at
the first bite. It’s the best. Here’s how it works.
Step 1: Get a goat (or two).
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| From the interwebs. I never took a picture of the goats we ate. |
Step 2: Kill the goat(s).
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| Also, from the web. |
Step 3: Skin it (optional) and cut up the meat.
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| From PST, Lexa's picture |
Step 4: Make a fire.
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| From PST, Lexa's picture |
Step 5: Place many smooth stones into the fire until they
are extremely hot.
Step 6: Place raw meat, onions, potatoes, carrots, water, vodka
or beer, salt, and other seasonings along with extremely hot stones into a large
pressure cooker or makeshift pot pressure cooker. Seal the lid and place in the
fire.
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| From the August 28th Khorkhog, using a smaller pot |
Step 7: Let it cook for 30 min to 2 hrs.
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| From PST, Lexa's picture |
Step 8: Remove the lid (carefully).
Step 9: Juggle hot stones as a “form of therapy.”
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| From PST, Lexa's picture |
Step 10: Lay out all the meat and veggies in a pan. Grab and
eat!!! Also, be sure to have some of the incredible broth soup. It’s the best.
Ever.
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| From PST, Lexa's picture |
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| From PST, Lexa's picture |
That’s khorkhog. It is uniquely Mongolian and would be very
difficult to emulate in the States. I already know I’m going to miss it when I return to America. Until then, though, bring on the khorkhog!!!
~Sally
Hey Sally....Great post! The video would not work for me. There is a meat processing place here that sells all kinds of meat. I am sure they sell goat. We can buy some and try our own Khorkhog at the farm when you get back. Have to get Uncle Dave in on it. ( Are you sure your host were not just pulling one over on you about juggling the hot stones? ) That thought brings to mind the question of what kind of sense of humor the Mongolian people have. The photos you post depict them as happy and smiling. And whats that Pepsi doing out in the Mongolian countryside??
ReplyDeleteMom, thanks for letting me know about the video. Hopefully, it's fixed now, so try again!
DeleteYes, perhaps you should try out making khorkhog, and let me know how it works. Maybe the only difficult thing would be finding a pressure cooker like that. Dave would enjoy it I'm sure.
Yes, positive that the hot stone thing is real.
Monglians are just like Americans, everyone has a different sense of humor. Most of the Mongolians I've met are really good natured and like to laugh and joke. Just today I had lunch with one of my CPs. One of the other male teachers came up to her and apparently told her the school was collecting money for an upcoming event. She gave him some money and he walked away. He came back at the end of lunch and gave it back to her, saying it was just a joke. It was pretty funny.
Soda is everywhere! Not all soda though. Coke, pepsi, and sprite can be found in pretty much any store you go to, Coke especially. I don't see anyone drinking soda all the time though. They usually bring it out for big get togethers or parties, like our teacher's celebration in the khodoo.
Video works now. Thanks.
DeleteYou've made me hungry for some Khorkhog! Is it said the way it sounds.
ReplyDeleteHi Ms Carol! The ks are silent, so it's pronounced HOR-hog, or to be more clear WHORE-hog.
DeleteLooking good Sal! Glad you found something you like to eat.
ReplyDeleteThere's lots of good food here. It's just different from America.
DeleteSally, you look like you really love it there. The barbq sounds amazing! I loved this blog and all the pictures. I think it could go into a magazine! Thanks for sharing! Keep it up! Miss you guys.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is a great place! Glad you like the blog! May I have the pleasure of knowing who this is, pretty please? Thank you for the positive comment!
DeleteVery interesting, learning so much about Mongolia thanks to you and Caleb! :)
ReplyDelete