Chingiss and me

When I have talked to Westerners or non-Mongols about Mongolia, they usually mention either Roy Chapman Andrews or Chingiss Khan (aka - Genghis). And usually when they mention Chingiss, they tell me how he was a cruel and unusual man. I can tell you Mongols would disagree. In fact, many would like to correct this western notion of Chingiss, which is based largely on accounts written by those countries, tribes, and people who were conquered by the Mongols.

In his recent book on Chingiss Khan, Jack Weatherford, an American Anthropologist, paints a different portrait of a wise and worldly Chingiss, who united the Mongol tribes into a nation-state. In fact, I think Time magazine named Chingiss "Man of the Millennium".

2006 marked the 800th anniversary of the formation of the Mongol state.
There have been many celebrations, conferences, new books, films, artwork, and monuments created to celebrate this great event. Even the airport was renamed in honor of Chingiss Khan. Since this summer, I have been watching the construction of an immense new monument in Sukhbaatar square, in front of the Parliament building. For those of you in the U.S., it is reminiscent of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The central bronze statue is that of a giant seated Chingiss.
He is flanked by two of his generals and then at the eastern end, by Kublai Khan. Inside this great monument will be a museum containing artifacts related to the Chingiss era. A friend of mine, Mr. Boldbaatar is actually working on the exhibits.

Since I am no expert on this legendary figure, I may save an entry for some of my Mongol friends to share their ideas with you. For now, here are some photos of the new monument.

Kharkhorin Chili

Temperature
Nights: -10
Days: +10

With temperatures like that, why did I move here you ask?! For the adventure of course, right… Fortunately, I have my lovely fur hat fashioned after an old Mongolian style hat and made by an old friend, Phelgye. He came from the high Tibetan Plateau where they know cold weather, same as the Mongolians.

The other day I came home from school and there was no heat, no hot water, and no cable TV! I needed to do some homework and writing, so I insanely headed back out into the cold to my favorite coffee shop that was nice and toasty warm. I looked at their menu to see if there was something warm to eat. They had many American style foods such as pizza and “sloppy dorj”, a variation of sloppy joe. I noticed they didn’t have chili.

Today I came home and designed my own chili based on ingredients I could find (some a bit exotic) and with a touch of local flavor. These included ground beef and onions from Mongolia, red lentils from India, tomatoes, and superior dark soy sauce from China, garlic, cilantro, brown sugar from Korea, chipotle peppers from Texas and Kharkhorin beer.

Unfortunately for you folks outside of Mongolia, one of the key flavorful ingredients is Kharkhorin beer, which cannot be found anywhere else. You can substitute it with your favorite dark beer, but Kharkhorin has a taste all its own. I hope Chingiss would be proud.

Side Note: Kharkhorin was the ancient capital city in Mongolia during Chingiss Khan’s rule. Historical manuscripts and archaeological evidence tells us that it was a rich and diverse city full of international flavor and visited by artists, scholars, and diplomats from all over the world Some of the visitors included William of Rubrick, Giovanni de Carpini and an envoy from Pope Innocent IV.

Serves 4-6

1 TB vegetable oil
2 lbs ground meat
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup of red lentils, soaked about an hour or until soft
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt, to taste
ground pepper, to taste
3 chopped tomatoes, slightly roasted in oil / or 1 can (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes.
1 tsp. of beef bouillon
2/3 cup of Kharkhorin beer
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. dark soy sauce
1 tbsp. of chipotles in adobo

Chopped green onions, sprigs of cilantro, grated cheese and sour cream or plain yogurt for garnish.

In a medium sized pot, brown the ground beef, drain excess fat (interestingly, Mongolian ground beef is much leaner than in the U.S.). In a small frying pan, heat the oil and sauté chopped onions and garlic. Add chopped tomatoes. Fold onion, garlic, and tomatoes into the meat.
Stir in the beer, bouillon, brown sugar, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil. Taste sauce and adjust ingredients to taste. Add red lentils. Lower heat to a slow simmer, cover with a lid and cook for about 30 minutes.

Serve with bread and a side of cool cucumber and dill salad.

Mongolian International Railway Station and Museum

For those of you who know me and my family, you know that railroading runs in our blood. Infact, you may even find a few cinders in our blood! Well, I know I've had it in my hair and eyes a few times. And my brother Chris isn't nicknamed "Coal Pile" for nothing. Anyway, before the weather turned cold here, I walked down to the International Train Station and Train Museum.

As I came upon the train station, a Mongolian train had just arrived from north of UB. It's not clear to me all the trains that come and go from this station. Clearly there are trains that come and go from as far east as Beijing and as far west as Moscow. It has been a dream of mine to take the train from Russia to Beijing, but that would take about a week. Maybe I'll due it in steps.

The station was bustling with activity and I captured a few photos of the action on the platform. Locals transporting goods to and from UB, a man waiting on the platform with the wooden frame of a ger, vendors selling food to travelers. It was kind of exciting to think of this historic railway that connected Eastern Europe to the Far East. Although, once the trains reach the Chinese border, they must change the train trucks to narrow gauge. This system was originally created to prevent the Czar from invading China.

The outdoor train museum has many engines in restoration - from steam to electric. There's even an American made steam engine from Pennsylvania. Would love to know the story behind that and how it got to Mongolia!

Halloween UB Style

Ok, just catching up here on some postings and pictures. We actually celebrated Halloween at school. The kids were all excited as they dressed up and came trick or treating to each classroom. I was really surprised they celebrated Halloween here. Guess it is one of those western cultural things that is creeping in due to Mongolians traveling and living abroad. Many of the masks and costumes came from the U.S. or England. And yes, that is Bill Clinton in the background!