Saturday, June 11, 2016

Urum - Өрөм "White butter", clotted cream


The milk of yaks (or in the Gobi camels) is best, because it contains more fat. The first few pictures show the production of Urum from yak milk.
Preparation

Heat the milk on the stove, just below boiling. In regular intervals, lift a ladle full into the air, and let it splash back into the pot, to create foam. This "scooping" (самрах) is necessary because the shallow wok-like Mongolian pan makes normal stirring ineffective, but it also has the quality of a ritual.

Once there is enough foam, let the milk cool down slowly. Now it needs to rest overnight. In the morning, a skin of about 1 cm clotted cream has formed, which is taken off. Stored dry and cool (in a wooden vat or a sheep's stomach), Urum will stay palatable for a full winter season.


Cattle milk contains less fat, so the skin will be thinner. The following images show the resulting smaller amount of Urum.

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