Sülen facts for kids

Sülen are special "boiled pot" dishes from ancient Mongolian cuisine. Think of them as hearty, warm meals cooked in a single pot. These dishes were very important, especially in the court of the Mongol Khans (their rulers). In an old cookbook called the Yinshan Zhengyao (YSZY), Sülen dishes made up a big part of the recipes – about 12% of all 219 dishes! These meals could be thick stews, soupy dishes, or even a bit like pilaf (a rice dish). They were all cooked using a base of mutton (sheep meat) and cardamom broth.

What are Sülen Dishes?

Sülen dishes were a key part of how the Mongols cooked. They would often use whatever meat and other ingredients they had available, cooking them together in a pot of hot mutton broth. This was a clever way to use all parts of the animal, including cuts of meat that weren't as popular, or even offal (internal organs). Bones were used to make the rich broth. To make the dishes thicker and more filling, ingredients like legumes (like beans or lentils) or grains were added. Onions and chives were often used to give the dishes a lot of flavor.

The word sülen itself can be found in a very old and important book called the Secret History of the Mongols. This shows how long these dishes have been a part of Mongolian cooking. While Mongols also roasted meat, boiling meat in a "hot pot" style was very common, and sülen was the name for these delicious boiled meat dishes.

How Sülen Was Made

The main ingredients for the broth were mutton (sheep meat) and a spice called cardamom. Sometimes, other spices like galangal (which is like ginger) or cinnamon were added to the broth for extra taste.

Common Ingredients

Many Sülen recipes used common ingredients that added a lot of flavor. These included:

• Vinegar
• Chives
• Leeks
• Onions

These four ingredients were used in more than half of all the Sülen recipes found in the YSZY cookbook! Other ingredients that appeared often were ginger, sheep offal (internal organs), black pepper, and fresh coriander leaves. Some recipes even mentioned a special "sheep liver sauce."

Thickening the Dishes

To make the Sülen dishes more filling and hearty, cooks would often add ingredients to thicken them.

• Chickpeas: In many recipes, pureed (mashed) chickpeas were added to the soup. This made the dish much thicker, almost like a stew.
• Grains: Sometimes, grains like rice or barley were added. In some cases, adding a lot of grain could turn the dish from a soup into a very thick, grain-based meal. One recipe even mixed fenugreek seeds with the mashed chickpeas.

Sülen in Other Cultures

The idea of "boiled pot" dishes like Sülen spread to other cultures. For example, in the 16th century, a cookbook from the Mughal Empire called the Ain-i-Akbari included a recipe for a dish called shölen. This shölen was made with chickpeas and rice, showing how the tradition of these hearty, boiled dishes continued in different parts of the world.