🇲🇳 Mongolian Cuisine

Borts

Air-Dried Meat Strips

Prep Time 2 weeks
Servings 10
Difficulty Easy

Thin strips of beef or mutton hung in the cold dry Mongolian air until completely desiccated. The original jerky, capable of lasting for years without refrigeration.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1 Select lean cuts of meat. Remove all visible fat, which can go rancid during drying.
  2. 2 Slice meat into thin strips about 1cm thick, cutting along the grain for strength.
  3. 3 Lightly salt the strips and hang on a rack or rope in a well-ventilated, cold, dry area.
  4. 4 In Mongolia, meat is hung inside the ger near the ceiling or outside in late autumn when temperatures drop.
  5. 5 Dry for 2-4 weeks depending on conditions, until strips are completely hard and lightweight.
  6. 6 Store in cloth bags. To use, shave or pound into powder and add to soups or stews.

Did You Know?

One whole cow, when fully dried into borts, can fit into a single leather pouch. It sustained Mongol armies across continents.