MWW 30: Хуушуур

Cyrillic	хуушуур
Transcription	huushuur
IPA	[χʊ:ʃʊr]
Layman’s Pronunciation	HOH-shore
Translation	fried meat dumpling
In Genghis Khan’s time, I’m not sure if it existed.

America has hot dogs and hamburgers, Mongolia has buuz and huushuur. In each case, you’ve got two different, but essentially similar things that have sort of become archetypal. Americans, stereotypically, eat hot dogs and hamburgers, and grill ‘em outdoors on Independence Day or Labor Day. In Mongolia, buuz and huushuur are probably the two foods that people cite as their favorites, and which get hyped as “Mongolian national food.”

Hot dogs and hamburgers are both molded ground meat in a bun. Buuz and huushuur are both ground meat in a dough pocket which is pinched shut with pretty designs. Within this identical basic framework though, they’re way apart. The main difference is that buuz is steamed, but huushuur is deep-fried. Aside from that, they’ve also differentiated themselves in lots of other details. They tend to be pinched with different styles, use different seasoning combinations, and be associated with holidays at opposite times of year.

бууз	хуушуур
steamed	deep-fried
stiff dough	floppy dough
round and compact	long and flat
pinched at the top	pinched along the side
stereotypical Tsagaan Sar food	stereotypical Naadam food

Huushuur with coleslaw or something

Huushuur from the fast food chain Haan Buuz

As often happens in life, the biggest divide seems to occur between the two most similar things. Serbs and Croats. Crips and Bloods. Buuz and huushuur. Personally, I choose huushuur. Which one will YOU choose?

Now I’m hungry.