The influence of Mongols and Muslims

By the time of the powerful Mongol leader Genghis Khan in the 13th century, Mongol influences were strong in northern Chinese cuisine. From the earliest times, traditional Mongolian cuisine relied primarily on dairy products and meat. These nomadic people sustained their lives directly from the products of their work animals: horses, cattle, yaks, camels, sheep and goats. Milk, cream, cheese and mutton were important in their diet, and their favourite beverage was fermented mare’s milk.

Meanwhile, Chinese Muslims were settling in the region. These settlers came mostly from the Hui, the Uyghur and the Mongolian minority tribes. As Muslims, they do not eat pork, and therefore lamb, beef and mutton historically made up their diet, and still do today. Hand-made noodles also originated among the Hui, who passed the skills on to imperial chefs, and these skills in turn filtered down to the general populace by the time of the late Qing Dynasty in the 19th century.