Uuts

Ingredients

The meat

• 1whole sheep rump and tail
• uuts, the back and fatty tail
• about 5 to 7 kg
• or a large bone-in lamb saddle
• with the fat left on
• from a butcher, ordered ahead

For boiling

• a very large pot
• enough water to cover
• 2 tablespoonscoarse salt
• or to taste
• 1onion, halved, optional
• a few peppercorns, optional

To serve

• a large platter or wooden board
• a sharp carving knife
• boov, stacked fried biscuits
• buuz, steamed dumplings
• aaruul, dried curd
• airag or milk tea
• salt, on the side

Sometimes served with

• potato salad
• pickled vegetables
• vodka, for the toasts

Directions

1. Leave every bit of the fat on it. Now find a pot that is large enough. Rinse the meat under cold water. Put it in the pot and cover with cold water. Starting cold draws out the scum.
2. Bring the pot slowly up to a boil. Skim it off carefully and repeatedly. Keep skimming until no more appears. The surface should barely tremble.
3. Simmer it for about three hours. A very large piece may need longer. Turn it once halfway through if it is not covered. Top up with boiling water if needed. Never add cold water to a simmering pot.
4. Use two large forks or meat hooks. Have a second person help you. Drain it briefly over the pot. Set it on a large platter or board.
5. Set it fat side up, which is essential. Do not attempt to move a full pot alone. Let it cool before moving it if you can. It splashes badly if the pot is knocked.
6. Keep children well out of the kitchen. Do not throw the cooking broth away. Skim some of the fat off if you want. Keep the fat for cooking, since it is prized. It sets solid and keeps well refrigerated.
7. Slice the fat and the meat together. Do not separate them or trim the fat. Serve it with salt on the side. Serve boov alongside, the stacked biscuits. Serve buuz, the steamed dumplings. Serve aaruul, the hard dried curd. Leftovers keep four days refrigerated.

Technique

• The fat is the point. Mongolian fat-tailed sheep store fat in the tail and rump, it is displayed deliberately facing upwards, and a thick layer signals prosperity and a well-kept flock. Serving a lean uuts would be poor. That runs against a lot of modern food thinking, and the atlas records it as it is: in a severe winter climate with hard outdoor herding work, fat is fuel.
• The cooking is deliberately plain — salted water and nothing else, in most households. Mongolian cooking uses few seasonings, which reflects what was historically available, since spices were traded goods rather than everyday ones.
• Find the pot before you order the meat. A whole uuts is very large and a stockpot or preserving pan is the minimum; cutting it in two loses the presentation but changes nothing about the eating.
• Start it in cold water and skim repeatedly as it comes to the boil. Then keep it at a bare simmer — a hard boil toughens the meat and makes the broth cloudy and greasy.
• Large joints cook unevenly. Test the thickest part near the bone in two places, and give it longer if there is any resistance. There is no harm in overcooking here.
• Lifting a very large pot of boiling water with rendered fat floating on it is a genuine burn risk, and fat is hotter than boiling water. Get a second person, use hooks or two large forks, and keep children out of the kitchen.
• Keep the broth. It is drunk as soup at the same meal, and the skimmed fat is prized for cooking and keeps for months refrigerated.
• Fat-tailed sheep are not a standard European butcher’s animal. Order ahead, and a halal butcher is the likeliest source since the breeds are used across Central Asia and the Middle East.
• Carving and serving follow seniority, and practices vary between families and regions. The atlas notes that an order exists and is observed rather than laying down rules; a guest should follow the host’s lead. Guests eat at every household they visit over several days, which is why portions at each are small.

Substitutions

• A large bone-in lamb saddle with all the fat left on replaces a whole uuts where fat-tailed sheep are unavailable. It will not look the same.
• Goat replaces sheep in some households, though sheep is traditional.
• An onion and a few peppercorns can go in the water, though most households add only salt.
• Cutting the joint in two makes it fit a domestic pot at the cost of the presentation.
• Cultured buttermilk or thin yoghurt stands in for airag, which is very hard to obtain outside Mongolia and is a quite different drink.
• Shop-bought biscuits stand in for boov, though the stacked tower is a specific and symbolic thing.

Variations

• Buuz, the steamed mutton dumplings, are made by the hundred for Tsagaan Sar and are eaten alongside.
• Khorkhog cooks mutton with hot stones inside a sealed metal churn and is the summer counterpart.
• Boodog cooks a whole marmot or goat with hot stones placed inside the carcass.
• Some households roast rather than boil the uuts, though boiling is traditional.
• Related fat-tailed sheep dishes are made across Central Asia, in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan particularly.
• The broth is served as a plain soup with noodles at the same meal in many households.

History

The centrepiece of Tsagaan Sar: the sheep’s back is boiled whole and set on the table with the fatty tail intact as a sign of prosperity.

Frequently asked questions

What is Uuts?

Uuts is a main from Mongolia: whole boiled sheep rump and tail presented fat side up at New Year feasts. The centrepiece of Tsagaan Sar: the sheep’s back is boiled whole and set on the table with the fatty tail intact as a sign of prosperity.

How long does Uuts take to make?

Uuts takes 30 minutes of preparation and 3 hours of cooking. The recipe makes serves 10 or more. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Uuts?

Yes, within limits. A large bone-in lamb saddle with all the fat left on replaces a whole uuts where fat-tailed sheep are unavailable. It will not look the same. Goat replaces sheep in some households, though sheep is traditional. An onion and a few peppercorns can go in the water, though most households add only salt. Cutting the joint in two makes it fit a domestic pot at the cost of the presentation. Cultured buttermilk or thin yoghurt stands in for airag, which is very hard to obtain outside Mongolia and is a quite different drink. Shop-bought biscuits stand in for boov, though the stacked tower is a specific and symbolic thing.

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

Simmer it for about three hours. A very large piece may need longer. Turn it once halfway through if it is not covered. Top up with boiling water if needed. Never add cold water to a simmering pot.