Mongola | Guriltai Shul

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED

I learned a few things while researching this one.

The Mongolian Beef you get from your favorite Chinese restaurant did not originate in Mongolia. It appears to have been developed in Taiwan.

Mongolian BBQ? That didn't originate in Mongolia either and it also seems to have started as a thing in Taiwan.

Mongolian cuisine involves a lot of meat and ingredients that are easy for a nomad to carry or acquire. Fruits and easily perishable vegetables are not very common ingredients. In more cosmopolitan areas, you'll find more variety but that is not representative of the rest of the country.

Anyway, it's Fall and that is a good time for soup so I opted to make this simple soup.

It requires 200g meat, 150 grams of whatever vegetable you have, salt, pepper, and water. And fried noodles, which you can make yourself or just use premade wonton strips.

I used beef, a large onion and 2 small carrots (chopped up into little tiny cubes) and the premade wonton strips. I know they're not carrying around premade wonton strips in Mongolia but I really didn't want to fry anything. When I fry things, I end up feeling greasy and gross and I make a mess. I didn't feel like dealing with all of that so I took a shortcut.

And I'd do it again.

The soup was super easy to make.

The recipe says that, other than salt and pepper, you can use other spices "at will" so I added a little onion powder and a little garlic powder. It is pretty much a blank slate that you can season all kinds of ways but I tried to keep it simple and as close to the original recipe as possible.

I did let it simmer longer than the recipe instructed because I got distracted for a bit. I don't think that did anything other than give the flavors more time to develop.

The recipe sounds bland but it ended up being pretty flavorful!

It's just a simple and satisfying soup. It won't punch you in the face with flavor but it is definitely not flavorless.

I really really liked it and it will become a Fall staple in my meal rotation. It's easy to make and the ingredients are easy to find and it is very customizable.

I truly enjoyed this one!