Mongolian barbecue facts for kids
Mongolian barbecue (Chinese: 蒙古烤肉; pinyin: Měnggǔ kǎoròu) is a special kind of stir-fried food. It was created in Taiwan in 1951 by a person named Wu Zhaonan. This dish is cooked on huge, round, flat iron grills. These grills get very hot, up to 300 °C (572 °F)! Even though it's called "Mongolian barbecue," it's not actually from Mongolia. It's also not really like a typical barbecue.
How Mongolian Barbecue Started
Mongolian barbecue was invented by Wu Zhaonan. He was a comedian and also owned restaurants in Taiwan. Wu was originally from Beijing, China. He moved to Taiwan because of a big conflict happening in China at the time.
In 1951, Wu opened a small street food stand in Taipei, Taiwan. He first wanted to name his new dish "Beijing barbecue." But Beijing had just become the capital of Communist China. Because of the political situation, he decided to call it "Mongolian barbecue" instead. This was even though the dish had no real link to Mongolia.
Wu's food stand became super popular. Even important people like foreign diplomats and rich business owners came to eat there. Sadly, his stand was later destroyed by a flood from a typhoon. Wu almost drowned! After this, he became a very successful comedian and left the restaurant business. Many other restaurants then started making their own versions of his popular dish. Some of the oldest and most famous ones were Genghis Khan and Heavenly Khan. Later, Mongolian barbecue became popular in Western countries too.
How Mongolian Barbecue is Made
When you go to a Mongolian barbecue restaurant, you usually get to pick your own ingredients. You choose from many different thinly sliced meats. These can include beef, pork, lamb, turkey, chicken, and shrimp. You also pick various vegetables like cabbage, tofu, onions, broccoli, and mushrooms.
You put your choices into a bowl. Then, you give the bowl to a chef. The chef adds your choice of sauces. After that, they put all the ingredients onto the large, round grill.
The grill's round shape lets two or more chefs cook at the same time. Because the ingredients are sliced so thin, they cook very fast. The food is often ready after just one turn around the grill! Sometimes, oil or water is added to help with cooking. The chefs stir the food constantly over the high heat. All the different ingredients stay separate and easy to see.
In some restaurants, especially in America, chefs might cook different dishes on different parts of the grill. They walk around the grill, stirring each person's food in order.
Once the food is fully cooked, the chef scoops it into a bowl for you. Many Mongolian barbecue places offer an all-you-can-eat style. This means you can go back to the grill multiple times to try different combinations!
Images for kids
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Food cooking on a Mongolian barbecue griddle
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Wu Zhaonan, the creator of Mongolian barbecue, in 2012
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BD's Mongolian Grill in Ulanbaatar, Mongolia
See also
In Spanish: Barbacoa mongola para niños
