Buuzy

Buuzy (also called buuza) are steamed meat buns of the Buryat people of Siberia, eaten across the Buryat Republic around Lake Baikal. They are closely related to the Mongolian buuz and ultimately to the Chinese baozi, reflecting the Buryats' Mongolian and Central Asian cultural roots. The buns are made from a simple wheat dough filled with minced meat (beef, pork or a mix) mixed with onion, water and fat, shaped into a round bun with a small opening at the top, and steamed for 20 to 25 minutes. During steaming, the filling releases its juices, creating a broth inside the bun. The traditional way to eat is to bite off the top, drink the broth, then eat the rest. Buuzy are the everyday food of the Buryat, sold in markets and street stalls, and they are the Siberian equivalent of the Chinese soup dumpling.

Soft, steamed bun wrapper giving way to a savoury meat filling and a pool of hot broth inside. The ritual is to bite the top, drink the broth, then eat the bun. Deeply savoury, warming, the food of the Siberian steppe.

The technique is a steamed bun with an opening for broth. The dough is flour, water and salt, kneaded and rested. The filling is minced meat with a generous amount of onion and, crucially, water or broth mixed in, the liquid turning to steam inside the sealed bun during cooking, creating the soup. The bun is shaped by placing the filling in a dough round, then pinching the edges upward into a round, pleated shape with a small hole at the top, leaving it open. The buns are steamed in a bamboo or metal steamer for 20 to 25 minutes. The open top allows steam to enter during cooking and broth to be drunk during eating. The liquid in the filling is what distinguishes buuzy from ordinary meat buns.