Mongolia: vegan banshtai tsai

From our meal of spherical pancakes in Denmark, we head to East Asia and land on the steppes of Mongolia. Here we make vegan banshtai tsai – Mongolian milk tea with dumplings. This traditional Mongolian comfort food uses tea as an ingredient in a savoury dish, something that was new to me but is quite common in Mongolia. Read on to learn more about this dish or jump straight to the recipe.

Mongolian cuisine

Mongolia is famously a herding country with as many as a 3rd of the population leading a nomadic lifestyle. Goat and sheep are of great importance in Mongolian cooking, both meat and in particular milk ​[1]–[5]​. Popular dishes in Mongolia include different dough wrapped meats that can be steamed to create buuz (steamed dumplings) ​[6]​, boiled to create bansh (boiled dumplings) ​[7]​ or deep fried for khuushuur (fried dumplings) ​[8]​.

A well known restaurant dish outside Mongolia is Mongolian barbecue where you select meat and vegetables that are then fried in front of you. This style of cooking is in fact not Mongolian and was invented at a restaurant in Taiwan in the 1950s, likely adding a Mongolian backstory for a bit of flare and excitement ​[9]​.

Throughout its history, milk has been an important staple in Mongolian kitchen and is used in a range of different dishes, including fermented and dried salty cheese curdles in many varieties and fermented into the alcoholic beverage airag. One very popular way to consume milk is to mix it with tea and salt to create salted tea.

Vegan banshtai tsai – milk tea with dumplings

Tea with milk and salt, suutei tsai or tsutai tsai, is probably the most common drink in Mongolia ​[10]​. A simple recipe is to just boil tea leaves (green or black) and salt in equal parts water and milk ​[11]​. This base recipe is often expanded to create other dishes by including grains like toasted millet or rice, local vegetables or pieces of meat in the tea. If you boil dumplings (bansh) in the salty tea, you get the banshtai tsai, milk tea with dumplings .

Banshtai tsai, Mongolian milk tea with dumplings, is a classic comfort dish in Mongolia ​[12]​. Nutrient rich, filling and warming, it is also said to cure whatever ails you. To make the dish, I studied a few Mongolian dumpling recipes ​[6]–[8], [13]​ and found a few veganized versions with soy ​[14]​, tofu ​[15]​, or jackfruit ​[16]​, before deciding on the textured vegetable protein (TVP) and mushroom stuffing below. The traditional versions for Mongolian milk tea usually include at least some animal bits and fat or butter ​[17]–[19]​ which I skipped here, instead opting for a simple soup with onion and carrot ​[15]​. In addition to the name sake ingredients of milk, tea, and dumplings, Mongolian milk tea with dumplings usually includes either millet or rice to add some thickness to the soup.

Conclusion

Making vegan banshtai tsai was an interesting experience. I have never made a savoury dish with tea before so was quite excited to try out this Mongolian classic comfort food. Sadly, my version of it fell a bit short: the tea flavour was almost non-existent. Next time, I will double the amount of tea leaves and let them steep for longer. (I used 1 tbsp, in the recipe below I increased the amount to 1-2 tbsp.)

How to make vegan banshtai tsai – Mongolian milk tea with dumplings

Print

Vegan banshtai tsai

Banshtai tsai, or milk tea with dumplings, is a traditional Mongolian comfort food made by simmering dumplings in a savory broth of milk and tea.

Course Main Course, Soup

Cuisine Mongolia, Southeast Asian

Keyword Dumplings, East asia, soup

Servings 2

Ingredients

Dumplings (bansh)

• 150 mL vegan mince (rehydrated volume) e.g. dried TVP
• 2-4 mushrooms, dried or fresh
• 3 tbsp onion, chopped finely
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 dash soy sauce optional
• salt and pepper to taste
• 200 mL all purpose flour
• 50-100 mL water

Milk tea

• 1-2 tbsp Black loose leaf tea or 1-2 tea bag
• 300 mL water
• 300 mL plant-based milk
• ½ onion, cut into wedges
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 carrot, sliced into coins
• 50 mL millet
• 1 tbsp all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp vegan margarine or butter
• salt to taste

Instructions

Dumplings (bansh)

• If using dried TVP (textured vegetable protein, dry soy mince) and mushrooms, rehydrate by soaking in boiling water for 15+ minutes.
• Prepare the dough by mixing flour and water. Add water a little at a time. The final dough should be quite tough.

  Let dough rest for 15+ minutes while preparing the filling.
• Finely chop the mushrooms (fresh or rehydrated). Mix Vegan mince, mushrooms, onion, garlic, and salt.
• When the dough has rested, roll it into a long roll, ~2 cm diameter. Cut 3 cm pieces, roll them into balls.

  Use a rolling pin to flatten the balls into discs, about 7 cm in diameter and 1 mm thick, slightly thicker in the centre.
• Place a spoon-full of filling on the disc, fold the edges over and pinch the edges together to seal.
• Let dumplings rest while making the soup.

Milk tea

• Prepare the tea by boiling tea leaves (lose or bagged) in water for several minutes. The tea should be strong. Strain and set aside.
• Add margarine to a pot on medium heat. When bubbling, add the millet. Toast until the millet starts to brown. Add the flour and stir for another minute.

  Remove from heat and set aside for later.
• In the same pot, add the strained tea, onion, garlic, carrot and salt to taste. Bring to a simmer and add back the flour and millet mixture.
• Let simmer for 15 minutes until the carrots and millet start to soften.
• Add the milk and dumplings.
• Simmer until the dumplings are ready, about 10 min.

Disclaimer

References