What are the characteristics of Inner Mongolia cuisine?

As a person who has lived in Inner Mongolia for many years, I summarize the characteristics of Inner Mongolia cuisine as follows for your reference:

1. White first, then red. The eating habit of Mongolians is white first and then red. White refers to free food, milk and dairy products; Red refers to red food, meat and meat products. The title is full of color and vividness. Mongols respect white and regard milk as a noble and auspicious thing. If you praise your heart as white as milk, you will get the highest reward. A herdsman who accidentally spilled milk will immediately touch his forehead with his fingers and say, "Ah, alas, what a blessing." Without a little meat, it may be thrown to cats and dogs. Regardless of the size of the banquet, free food will be used to open the way. It is a sacred etiquette for the host to serve a silver bowl full of milk and let the guests taste it one by one according to their age. Even if the guest is seventy or eighty years old and several times older than the host, he should kneel and hold the silver bowl. Not for the owner, but for the milk. There were many people at the wedding. If one person is omitted from this etiquette, it will be the biggest mistake of the host and the biggest disrespect for the guests. Whenever we pay homage to Weng Yishan, Aobao and Sulud, we should sprinkle freshly squeezed milk on the heavens and the holy monks. After the celebration and prayer, the fresh milk in the bucket is often waved, bringing good luck and auspicious ceremonies. When the sheep was put back, a sheep was cut into six or seven pieces and put on a big plate, which looked like it was lying on weekdays. The sheep's head is on it, and the sheep's head is coated with butter, which shows that red food still depends on white food to guide.

2. Mainly drinking. Tea is the face and staple food of the Mongols. Whoever walks on the grass, no matter whether he is familiar with Mongolian or Chinese, the host will first offer tea with both hands: "If you have good tea to drink, you will have a good face." Today, Mongolians in pastoral areas drink tea in the morning and at noon, which means "a day without food is better than a day without tea". Herdsmen pay attention to collocation when drinking tea: fried rice, ghee, ghee eggs, sugar, and often meat in winter. Herdsmen are used to drinking tea, and they will refill it when they can't finish it. If the guests don't want to drink, they can declare it, otherwise they can only fill their stomachs with tea. This is probably the difference in diet between Mongolian and Han people. What snacks Han people eat are used for dry, and thin people always feel that they are not full. Mongolians are used to eating thin things from snacks, and it is uncomfortable to eat them dry. For example, milk porridge and Huo Ling rice (lean porridge) are actually semi-liquid foods. Perhaps, giving priority to drinking is a long-standing habit. Mongolians also call eating meat "drinking soup" and mutton "soup" and "soup sheep".

3. Lightweight and simple. "Fried rice with milk tea" is a great invention of nomadic people. There is not only a living basis, but also a scientific basis. Eating a hand-picked pork and a delicious tea is not only a combination of meat and vegetables, but also a combination of thickness. It is not greasy in the mouth, comfortable in the stomach and easy to digest. Mongolian people in pastoral areas often put fried rice in a whole piece of peeled calf skin (sometimes some dried meat), and ghee in rumen soaked in acid water, and carry it on horseback, not afraid of being broken, walking silently. Even in a deserted place, as long as there is water, a few pieces of dried cow dung can make a fire to make tea. Even today, when mowing grass, walking in otters, pulling salt for a long distance or hunting, we still adhere to this light and simple lifestyle.

Generally speaking, the food culture in Inner Mongolia has its own unique characteristics compared with other places.