MWW 13: Бууз

Cyrillic	бууз
Transcription	buuz
IPA	[pʊ:ts]
Layman’s Pronunciation	BODES
Translation	large steamed meat dumpling
In Genghis Khan’s time it was buuja.

Buuz is one of Mongolia’s chief dishes. To quote a conversation one of my friends had,

Bryce:                          What is buuz?

Mongolian teachers:      It is a Mongolian national food.

Bryce:                          I know, but what is it made of?

To answer that last question, buuz is made of flour, water, meat, and usually onions. The meat is finely chopped and mixed with finely chopped onions, sometimes seasoning, and whatever other optional ingredients you want to add. The dough is rolled into little circles and filled with the meat mixture. Then you pinch the top to seal it. (Mongolian women usually pinch the top in one of several neat, floral-looking patterns. This is notoriously difficult for Peace Corps volunteers to do.) Then you steam it.

The buuz above is pinched along a long seam. You can see some nice pictures of more typical top-pinched buuz here:

• http://hazarainmongolia.wordpress.com/tag/buuz/
• http://www.teatime-blog.com/2005/01/01/

Buuz is usually made without yeast, but it can be made with yeast. In this case it is called мантуун бууз (mantuun buuz) after мантуу (mantuu), a kind of Mongolian steamed bread.

Buuz is stereotypically Mongolian, and is eaten throughout the year, but it has a special place in Tsagaan Sar. It can be compared to turkey. Turkey is easy to find in America and scarce in most other places (including Mongolia), and is eaten throughout the year in sandwiches but takes center stage during Thanksgiving. In the case of buuz, my hashaa family made and froze 1,600 buuz in preparation for the holiday.

бууз                 чимхэх
buuz                 chimheh
[pʊ:ts              ’tʃ^him.xex]

BODES           CHIM-khekh
to pinch buuz

Бууз                чимхэж          чадах уу?
Buuz                chimhej           chadah            uu?
[pʊ:ts              ’tʃ^him.xetʃ        tʃ^hat. ’xʊ:]
BODES           CHIM-khej      chat-KHOH?
Can you pinch buuz?

Чадна             шүү!
Chadna           shüü!
[’tʃ^ha.dǝn         ʃʉ:]
CHAD-uhn      shoe!

Yes I can!

Яамар                        муухай           бууз!    Чадахгүй.
Yaamar            muuhai            buuz!    Chadahgüi.
[’ja:mǝr            ’mʊ:χæ           pʊ:ts.   tʃ^ha.dǝx.’kʊ:]
YAH-mer         MOO-kha        bodes!  Chah-dukh-GOO.
What an ugly buuz! You can’t (pinch).

PS: I had been called to the capital by Peace Corps for an emergency drill when I was updating about Tsagaan Sar. Then my ride back showed up while I was working on the blog. So, buuz and hadag didn't get posted, and tsagaan was scheduled to be posted before I finished typing, so I added more to it just now.

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Read More

Buuz recipe on All Mongolian Recipes: http://www.mongolfood.info/en/recipes/buuz.html