Ingredients
Traditional Filling
2 pounds hand-chopped beef, meat from the round recommended (Even coarsely ground beef won’t do, for the right texture it needs to be hand chopped.)
1 small onion, finely minced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 – 2 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
Vegetable Filling
Anna and Telmen knew that our videographer, Steve LeBeau, was vegan. They wanted him to enjoy the buuz and huushuur, so they substituted 2 cups of cooked and diced beets for the chopped beef and continued with the recipe.
Dipping Sauce
Traditionally Mongolians do not serve sauce with dumplings but this one has become popular.
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon or more red chili pepper flakes.
Instructions
Buuz
Fill each dumpling with a rounded teaspoon of the beef, folding the edges up into a cone shaped circle. The advantage of hand rolled wrappers with thinner edges become clear here, eliminating extra bulk at the top. Always leave a small opening to let steam escape.
For another traditional shape, again put the filling in the center of a wrapper. Fold the dough from both sides and press the opposing edges together in the middle over the meat. Next fold the edges across the top from the other direction and press together into the previous connection. The result is a flower like shape, with four openings to let the steam escape.
To cook the buuz, use a metal vegetable steamer. Oil it lightly and steam the dumplings, approximately 20 minutes for fresh dumplings and 30 minutes for frozen ones.
Bansh
Use the same dough and filling as you would for buuz. However, bansh are sealed completely and then boiled in salted water rather than steamed. At first the dumplings will sink to the bottom of the pot. After about 10 minutes, when they are finished cooking, they will rise to the top. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels before serving.
Huushuur
This is the third variant on meat dumplings. Cut each rope of dough into 6 pieces, rather than 12, and roll out the wrappers so they are twice the size of those used for buuz. Use a two-tablespoon of the meat filling for each huushuur. Fold into a half moon shape, pleating the edges. Leave one corner open until the meat is in an even layer and you have squeezed out any air pockets, then seal completely. Pan-fry in vegetable oil.