Buuz- The legendary Mongolian Dumpling
We have brought you a special culinary treasure from our visit to Buryatia. A gut rocking Buuz recipe! These famous meat filled Dumplings are widely spread in Buryatia and Mongolia, where they are traditionally eaten during New Years Eve. On our visit to Hotel Orda in Ulan Ude, we had the honor to meet Head Chef Eugene, who cooked us some Mongolian Buuz to die for. No more talking! Here is the Recipe!
Ingredients
- 3 Cups of water
- 1 Cup of wheat flour
- 1 tbsp of salt for the dough
- 2 Onions, chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 tbsp of paprika powder
- 2 tbsp onion powder
- 3 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tbsp freshly grounded pepper
- 2,5 tbsp salt for the filling
- 500g minced beef
- 250g minced porc
Step 1
Combine the wheat flour, salt and water in bowl and form a dough. Knead the dough on a clean surface until your Dumpling base is done. Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour before using it. After one hour take the dough out of the fridge and form a roll with both hands and cut it up into 1 inch pieces.
Finally roll the pieces out to small circles. They should be as big as the palm of your hand in order to place in the meatballs.
Step 2
To another bowl add all of your minced meat. Add the salt, pepper, ground coriander, paprika powder, onion powder, onions and garlic. Now start mixing the meat with your hands and combine all ingredients.
Note :If you do not have the dried seasoning you can just use a beef seasoning from the grocery store.
Step 3
Start shaping round equal size meatballs with your hands and place them on a plate. They will be the filling for your Dumplings. To make sure that the filling tastes great, fry up a bit of the meat in a pan. Once its done have a taste and see if you like it. Adjust it to your desired taste preference.
Step 4
This is the most difficult part of the recipe: Folding the Buuz into its shape!
Therefore place one of meatballs onto a circle of dough, which should be sitting in the palm of your lefthand. With your right hand start pinching the dough and bring both sides together, as shown on the photograph below. This is the easiest folding technique and its called “the Flower”. There are several shapes and all of then have names such as “the house” which stand for the nomadic Mongolian Ger. Another one is the Pony Tail We loved learning about all the varieties.
Don’t feel discouraged if your Buuz is not looking like those on the pictures. It is totally okay. Eugene is an expert and has already shaped thousands of these juicy fellas. The shape won’t change its taste. Just get them sealed.
Step 5
Place your Buuz into a bamboo steamer which should be layered out with shredded cabbage. Also add a little bit of oil to the bottom of your Buuz. This prevents your Buuz from sticking to the ground. Eugene used a professional steamer as you can see below and steamed the Dumplings for 20 minutes at 100 degrees Celsius.
In Mongolia mayonnaise is often served with Buuz. Honestly, we prefer a good light soy sauce with bits of grated ginger and garlic.
Please let us know how you liked the
Recipe! We are thrilled to hear from you!
These dumplings look like an ultimate comfort food. I know in Russia or Kazakhstan, they have similar dumplings but they call them manti. I’ve never tried Mongolian cuisine, but it sure looks delicious!