Khuushuur

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 1 tspfine salt
• 260 mlwarm water

Filling

• 500 gfatty minced mutton or lamb shoulder, hand-chopped not machine-minced
• 80 gmutton tail fat, finely diced (or 60 g lamb fat)
• 2onions (250 g), grated to a pulp with their juice
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tspsalt
• 1 tspground black pepper
• 1 tspcaraway seed, crushed (optional)
• 80 mlcold water or cold lamb stock

To fry and serve

• 1 litrebeef dripping, mutton fat or sunflower oil
• 1cucumber and 2 carrots, shredded and salted, to cut the fat
• Suutei tsai (salted milk tea), to drink

Directions

1. Mix flour, salt and warm water to a firm, slightly stiff dough, knead 8 minutes until smooth, then cover and rest 30 minutes. It should be tighter than bread dough so it fries crisp rather than puffing.
2. Work the meat, diced fat, grated onion, garlic, salt, pepper and caraway together with your hand for 2–3 minutes, then beat in the cold water a splash at a time until the mix is loose, glossy and sticky. That water becomes the mouthful of broth inside.
3. Roll the dough into two ropes, cut into 12 pieces, and roll each to a 13–14 cm round about 2 mm thick, leaving the centre very slightly thicker than the rim.
4. Put 2 heaped tbsp filling on one half, fold over into a half-moon and press the edge flat, pushing out all air. Seal with a rolled rope pleat worked around the curve, or press with a fork.
5. Flatten each finished parcel gently with your palm so it is an even 1 cm thick disc, and keep them under a cloth. Flat parcels cook through before the crust burns.
6. Heat the fat in a deep pan or kazan to 175–180°C (350–350°F), tested with a scrap of dough that should rise and sizzle within 3 seconds.
7. Fry 3–4 at a time for 3 minutes on the first side without moving them, then turn and fry 2–3 minutes more, spooning hot fat over the top so it blisters.
8. They are done when both sides are deep bronze with blistered bubbles and the parcel feels light and rigid; a skewer into the seam should release clear, not pink, juice.
9. Drain on a wire rack for 2 minutes. Eat hot, holding a corner and biting a small hole first so the broth does not scald you, with shredded salted vegetables and hot milk tea.

Technique

• The fat is the recipe. Lean mince gives a dry khuushuur; Mongolian cooks use mutton with its tail fat so the melted fat and the added water form the broth pocket.
• Grate the onion rather than dicing it. The pulp and juice season the whole filling and keep it moist, and there are no crunchy pieces to tear the thin dough.
• Any hole or trapped air makes it burst and spit in the fat. Press the seam flat from the filling outwards before you crimp.
• At Naadam these are fried by the hundred in mutton fat in an outdoor kazan, and people count how many they eat over the three festival days.

Substitutions

• No mutton tail fat: add 80 g finely diced lamb breast fat or beef suet, or use 20 percent fat minced beef and 100 g grated frozen butter.
• Beef khuushuur is common in Ulaanbaatar; use 20 percent fat beef chuck and add an extra garlic clove.
• For frying, rendered beef dripping is closest to the traditional flavour if mutton fat is unavailable; plain sunflower oil works but tastes flatter.

Variations

• Bansh: the same filling in small parcels, boiled and dropped into milk tea or served in broth.
• Buuz: the same filling steamed in pleated dumplings, the Tsagaan Sar new year version.
• Camel or goat khuushuur, made in the Gobi where those herds dominate.

History

The food of Naadam, where stalls around the wrestling grounds sell them by the bagful and Mongolians count how many they ate each July.

Frequently asked questions

What is Khuushuur?

Khuushuur is a street food from Mongolia: deep-fried flat pastries stuffed with seasoned mutton, Naadam festival favorite. The food of Naadam, where stalls around the wrestling grounds sell them by the bagful and Mongolians count how many they ate each July.

How long does Khuushuur take to make?

Khuushuur takes 45 min of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings (12 khuushuur). It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Khuushuur?

Yes, within limits. No mutton tail fat: add 80 g finely diced lamb breast fat or beef suet, or use 20 percent fat minced beef and 100 g grated frozen butter. Beef khuushuur is common in Ulaanbaatar; use 20 percent fat beef chuck and add an extra garlic clove. For frying, rendered beef dripping is closest to the traditional flavour if mutton fat is unavailable; plain sunflower oil works but tastes flatter.

What is the most important thing to get right in Khuushuur?

Mix flour, salt and warm water to a firm, slightly stiff dough, knead 8 minutes until smooth, then cover and rest 30 minutes. It should be tighter than bread dough so it fries crisp rather than puffing.