Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Cooking Mongolian with Enhee


I watched with fascination and some discomfort as Enhee prepared this complicated delicacy. While I admired how everything from the slaughtered sheep was used, it was hard for me to get past my Western norms.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sheep’s head stew (allow 2 hours for preparation and 3 hours for cooking)
Prepare in a well ventilated area, as the seering process generates a lot of smoke
Ingredients:
One sheep head, esophagus still attached for ease of handling
4 sheep forelegs with hooves
One sternum section of ribs
One whole sheep’s stomach, well cleaned
2 onions
2 potatoes
4 TB salt
4 liters of water

Get a medium fire going in the woodstove. Stick sheep head in the flames, dangled by the windpipe, for 15 minutes. This burns off most of the hair and kick-starts the seering process. Remove from fire. Place metal slats in fire to heat them. Use these to seer all surfaces of the head, sternum, and feet. Seer until all hair is removed and flesh is mostly cooked. Remove hooves from feet after burning (they should pop right off). Briefly boil and scrub all pieces until black is completely removed. Remove the esophagus from the head at the jaw line.

Put all pieces in the well-cleaned stomach; add 2 chopped onions, 2 potatoes (peeled), and 2 liters of water. Take a handful of salt, stick your hand into the stomach and rub it on the head and feet and stir it into the water. Tie the stomach firmly closed with a piece of cotton string. Place the stomach and its contents in a large metal pot, filled half way with water. Cook over a medium fire with lid on at a low boil for 3 hours. Enjoy!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I made it clear to Enhee that I would eat some of my own food for dinner, but did end up tasting a bit of tongue (similar to cow tongue) and some of the meat from the sternum (just tasted like rib meat). After that I enjoyed a Clif bar and some dried apricots in my ger. This morning, I saw the stripped skull on a plate. Not sure how or what all of it was eaten, but I can live with that mystery unsolved.

No comments:

Post a Comment