Making buuz for Tsagaan Sar

This saturday I got the chance to make buuz, or mutton dumplings, with my former host family in preparation for Tsagaan Sar. Tsagaan Sar, which means "white moon", is the Mongolian new year. Last time I was in Mongolia as a student I arrived after Tsagaan Sar was over, so I'm glad to be able to experience it this time. There are many fascinating customs and rituals associated with Tsagaan Sar. The first day (Feb 21) is called bituun, which means "full". On this day, dressed in your fancy deels (traditional Mongolian coat) you visit your relatives, beginning with the eldest relatives and working your way through your entire extended family. At each home you greet your family members in a certain way based on which of you is older. Then you stuff yourself with buuz and your family members give you a small gift, and you carry on to the next house. I can't help but think... Thanksgiving meets halloween??

For this occasion the women make thousands of dumplings. See the photos!

First the mutton and goat meat was chopped into tiny cubes. Then a salty broth with onions, garlic, pepper, steak sauce, and ginger powder was made. I tasted it at one point and thought it was offensively salty, but everyone else seemed to agree that more salt was needed!

Once the broth is the perfect balance of salty and flavorful they ladle it over the meat and mix it up with their hands.

Next a simple flour and water dough was rolled and cut out to make the dumpling wrappers. We had to find the perfect sized object to make the wrappers. Muugii (my host sister) and Eej (host mother) dashed around the house finding cups, pulling lids off cosmetics jars, and cutting apart soda bottles until the perfect size was found. We had two people rolling and stamping, and 3-5 people at any one time filling and pinching the dumplings.

At least 10 of us crammed into the kitchen! Here you can see the whole operation. The women are Danzka's sister, cousins, aunt, and girlfriend, plus me.

Eventually I got the hang of it. The Mongolians were even impressed! I managed to score an invite to Danzka's aunt's place for Tsagaan Sar due to my "cute" buuz-making abilities.

Overall it took about 4 hours. We made over 1000 buuz. I probably made about 150. Every hour or so we would replenish our strength with sugary drinks, or in this case, freshly steamed buuz!

Bambi is happy as a clam in her new home! She is filling out and eats constantly I'm told. She may turn out to be a big dog after all! Danzka is taking her to the vet next week to get her her shots. She was on a leash to prevent her getting into the kitchen while the buuz were being made.

So that's all I've got for now! Saikhan amraarai! (peace! lit- have a good rest!)