Mongolian beverages

In case you're interested to know what the average Mongolian eats and drinks, I thought I'd start out with the drinks. At most restaurants, you have your choice of various "multivitamin" juices (bottled mixed fruit juices), sodas (no diet!), water, beer, and hot teas. In the homes, people also drink raisin juice, milk tea (see recipe below), and airag (fermented mares' milk).

I'm not a big fan of milk tea, but I've learned to make it anyway because I host Mongolians in my apartment each week. They love it, and it's a very hospitable thing to serve. Personally, I love tea. But I learned to love tea in England, where I drank English breakfast tea with a little milk. Mongolian milk tea has basically the opposite tea and milk proportions, plus salt. (blech!) Try it for yourself!

Milk tea:
Bring the following to a boil on the stove: 1 liter water (about a quart), 1 Tablespoon loose black tea, 6-8 ounces milk (use 2% or more), pinch of salt to taste. When serving, pour through strainer to catch tea pieces. Serves about 10-15.

Note that in the countryside, some people will also add pan grease fat and other questionable items. I'd rather drink raisin juice!!