Boortsog

Boortsog, boorsoq, or baursak (Kazakh: баурсақ [bɑwərsɑ́q], Kyrgyz: боорсок [boːrsóq], Mongolian: боорцог [ˈpɔːrtsʰəq], Tatar Cyrillic: бавырсак, Latin: bawırsaq, Uzbek: bog'irsoq [bɒʁɨrsɒ́q], Tajik: бусроқ [busrɒ́q] ,Turkish: pişi,bişi,tuzlu lokma,halka) is a type of fried dough found in the cuisines of Central Asia, Idel-Ural, and Mongolia, being an "authentic example" of Mongolian cuisine. They may be thought of as cookies or biscuits, and since they are fried, they are sometimes compared to doughnuts.

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Preparation

Dough for Boortsog ranges in ingredients from a simple dough, to a sweeter, crispier dough. For example, a typical Kyrgyz recipe calls for one part butter, 7 parts salt water, and 6 parts milk, along with yeast and flour, while more complex recipes add eggs and sugar.

Boortsog are made by cutting the flattened dough into pieces. While not usually done in Central Asia, these pieces may be bent and knotted into various shapes before being deep fried. This is especially common among Mongolians. The dough is deep-fried golden brown. Mutton fat is traditionally used by Mongolians to give the boortsog extra flavor, but vegetable oil may be substituted.[1] [2] [3] [4]

Variations

Lángos (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈlaːŋɡoʃ]) is a Hungarian food speciality, a deep fried flat bread made of a dough with flour, yeast, salt[5] and water. Lángos can be made with yogurt, sour cream or milk instead of water, a dash of sugar along with salt and sometimes with flour and boiled mashed potatoes, which is called Potato Lángos (in Hungarian Krumplis lángos or Krumplislángos).[6] It is eaten fresh and warm, topped with sour cream and grated cheese, or Liptauer, ham, or sausages, rubbed with garlic or garlic butter, or doused with garlic water. Other ingredients and accompaniments can be mushroom, quark cheese, eggplant, cabbage, kefir, omelet, a confectioners' sugar, or jam.

Lángos may be cooked at home or bought from street vendors.

Traditionally lángos was baked in the front of the brick oven, close to the flames. It was made from bread dough and was served as breakfast on the days when new bread was baked. Now that people no longer have brick ovens and do not bake bread at home, lángos is virtually always fried in oil.

Lángos is sold at many fast-food restaurants not only in Hungary but also in Austria.[7] In Austria, especially in Vienna, lángos is very popular as a fast food at fairs and in amusement parks like the Prater. Lángos is known in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Croatia as langoš, in Serbia as languš. It is also popular in Romania.

Lángos is very similar to a version of frybread made by the American Indians.

Mekitsa (Bulgarian: мекица, also transliterated as mekica or mekitza; plural mekitsi, mekici, mekitzi) is a traditional Bulgarian dish made of kneaded dough made with yogurt that is deep fried. They are made with flour, eggs, yogurt, a leavening agent, water, salt, and oil, and are traditionally served with jam or white cheese (sirene). At breakfast, they are eaten with sugar or honey, and can also be eaten with yogurt.[8] They are similar to Hungarian lángos.[9]

Mekitsa is conventionally a breakfast dish and is inherently similar to Hungarian lángos.

Baursaki are a variety of doughnut-like pastry from Kazakhstan.[10] They consist of fried dough, and are shaped into either spheres or triangles.[11] The dough consists of flour, yeast, milk, eggs, margarine, salt, sugar, and fat.[12] Baursaki is often eaten alongside Chorba.[13]

Tajik boorstog are often decorated with a criss-cross pattern by pressing the bottom of a small strainer on the dough before it is fried.

Boortsog is often eaten as a dessert, with sugar, butter, or honey. Mongolians sometimes dip boortsog in tea.

See also

References

  1. ^ Recipe
  2. ^ Recipe
  3. ^ Recipe
  4. ^ Kyrgyz frying boorsoq
  5. ^ Hungarian lángos
  6. ^ June Meyers Authentic Hungarian Heirloom Recipes Cookbook
  7. ^ German Langoschrezepte
  8. ^ Conor Ciaran Waiting for Better Times
  9. ^ Mekitsas Doryoku
  10. ^ Waters (2007), 51.
  11. ^ Mayhew and Noble (2007), 112.
  12. ^ Schreiber (2008), 107.
  13. ^ Schreiber (2008), 104.

External links