The restaurant style abroad
In many countries, “Mongolian barbecue” refers to a restaurant format: you choose raw sliced meat, vegetables and sauces, and a cook stir-fries them on a large, flat, round griddle. It is a popular casual dining style, but it is generally understood to be a modern restaurant invention rather than a traditional Mongolian method. The name borrows the association with Mongolia and with nomadic life, but the cooking technique, the sauces and the mix of vegetables do not reflect how herding families usually cook.
If you arrive in Mongolia looking for that style, you may be disappointed, or surprised. Some restaurants in Ulaanbaatar and tourist areas do offer grill-style or stir-fried meals aimed at visitors, but they are not what people think of as traditional home cooking.
What traditional cooking looks like
For most families, everyday cooking is simple and does not involve a grill at all. Meat is boiled in a pot, fried in a pan or steamed in dumplings, using a stove in the ger. Ordinary household fuel is wood or dried dung, which is covered under daily chores in a ger. Roasting over an open fire is less central than outsiders often assume, partly because fuel is limited and boiling uses it more efficiently.
Special occasions are when stone-based methods appear, and these are the “real” barbecues, though the word does not translate exactly.
Khorkhog
Khorkhog is a celebratory dish typically made with mutton or goat. Chunks of meat on the bone, sometimes with potatoes, carrots, onions and other vegetables, go into a large sealed container, often a metal milk can or pot with a lid. Stones are heated in a fire until they are very hot, then layered with the meat. A little water is usually added, the lid is closed and the container is left to cook with steam and the heat from the stones.
After a period of cooking, which varies with the quantity of meat, the container is opened and the contents are shared. Diners often pass the hot stones from hand to hand, since people say that handling them is pleasant and warming. The stones are greasy and very hot, so this is done with care, and visitors should follow their host’s example rather than grab one on their own. Burns are a real risk, and the practice is not something to do without guidance.
Khorkhog is a dish of gatherings. It might be prepared for a visiting group, a holiday or a family celebration, and it is often eaten outdoors, with hands.
Boodog
Boodog is another stone-based method. In traditional descriptions, a whole animal, such as a goat, or in some accounts a marmot, is cooked from the inside. The animal is skinned carefully so that the skin stays in one piece, filled with meat and hot stones, tied and then singed on the outside, typically with a flame, to remove hair and seal it.
The marmot version has attracted concern in recent years. Marmots can carry diseases, including plague, and authorities have issued warnings and imposed rules around hunting and eating them at times. If you are offered marmot, check current official advice, and consider that you can simply decline. Goat boodog is the form more visitors are likely to meet. This is an area where food safety matters, so ask your guide about local guidance.
Why stones?
Heated stones make sense in a place where cooking vessels were once limited, fuel can be scarce and meat is the main food. Stones hold heat well and cook food evenly while retaining its juices. The method is also communal: a large amount of food cooks at once, which suits feasts. The tradition is passed down within families, and the details differ by region and by cook.
Setting expectations
If you take a trip to the countryside, you may be offered a stone-cooked meal as a treat. It tends to be rich, fatty and simply seasoned, often with only salt, and may taste different from what you expect from barbecue. Meat on the bone is eaten with hands or a small knife. Some visitors love the flavor, and others find the fat heavy.
It is not something you can count on in every camp, as it takes time, fuel and a larger quantity of meat. If you particularly want to try it, mention it to your guide or host in advance, and be prepared that availability may vary. The knowledge of how to do it properly stays with experienced cooks.
Telling the difference
In short, “Mongolian barbecue” in a mall food court and khorkhog at a herder’s camp are different things that happen to share some associations. One is a griddle-and-sauce restaurant format. The other is a method for feeding a group using fire, stones and steam. For the broader picture of what people eat day to day, the overview of Mongolian cuisine puts these celebratory dishes in context, and the page on traditional dishes describes the ordinary meals.