Khailmag is the herder's reward for a season of plentiful milk, a way of turning leftover urum into something rich and sweet. As the cream is heated the clear yellow oil floats free and is skimmed away to become shar tos for cooking and lamps, while what remains is cooked down with flour and sugar into a thick golden pudding scraped warm from the pot.
Warm, dense, and caramelized, somewhere between fudge and creme brulee but with a rustic graininess. Deeply buttery and gently sweet, with a toasted-flour nuttiness. Rich, almost decadent.
Heating ruptures urum's fat globules so liquid butterfat renders out; the remaining milk solids brown via the Maillard reaction while flour starch and sugar bind the mixture into a thick caramel paste.
Variations
Plain without flour as a softer cream; sweetened with raisins; richer versions from yak-milk urum
On the Palate
Where Khailmag sits in the Mongolian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
8 steps · 10 min
- 12 min
Place clotted cream (urum) in a heavy pan over medium-low heat.
- 26 min
Stir steadily as the cream melts and clear yellow butterfat begins to separate out.
Watch outStir steadily as the clear yellow butterfat separates out — that's your cue the cream has broken and it's time to skim.
- 33 min
Skim off most of the floating yellow oil and reserve it as shar tos.
- 44 min
Sprinkle in flour and stir constantly to toast it into the remaining cream.
- 54 min
Add sugar and keep stirring as the mixture thickens and turns golden.
Watch outKeep stirring as it thickens and turns golden — the Maillard color and nutty smell mean it's caramelizing right; walk away and it scorches on the base.
- 64 min
Cook until it pulls together into a heavy, glossy paste that comes away from the pan.
Watch outIt's done when the paste pulls together and comes cleanly off the pan bottom.
- 71 min
Spoon into a bowl while still warm.
- 81 min
Serve hot or warm, eaten with a small spoon like a custard.
