China’s northern Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region (内蒙古 - nèi měng gǔ) takes up most of the border with the Republic of Mongolia as well as part of that with Russia. It is mostly grassland and barren mountains. When I moved to China, I flew London to Beijing. I woke up shortly before we reached Beijing and all I could see from the window was what looked like the surface of Mars. Uninhabited, red tinged mountains for miles.
Unsurprisingly, the local food is very different from that down here in the tropics. Yet, Mongolian grub is popular throughout China. The region is known for being meat and dairy heavy. It is also one of the few parts of China which makes cheeses. But perhaps most famous are its hotpots and kebabs. Mutton is the main meat, unlike the rest of China which overwhelmingly prefers pork.
So tonight I went there via my food ordering app. I have been there bodily in the past. I ordered two 红柳羊肉串 (hóng liǔ yáng ròu chuàn), red mutton skewers; two 深海大八爪鱼须串 (shēn hǎi dà bā zhuǎ yú xū chuàn), deep sea octopus skewers; and two 炭烤白皮镆 (tàn kǎo bái pí mò), charcoal toasted bread buns*. These are all cooked over charcoal and generously sprinkled with cumin and chili powder.
I also toyed with the idea of ordering some 碳烤东北蝉蛹 (tàn kǎo dōng běi chán yǒng), charcoal roasted north-eastern cicada pupae, but decided I had enough as I also had some egg fried rice from lunch.
Despite everything being seasoned / spiced identically, the inherent flavour of each shone through.
* The are the same buns which, untoasted, I use for rou jia mo (qv).
