1. White first, then red. The eating habit of Mongolians is white first and then red. White refers to free food, milk and dairy products; Red refers to red food, meat and meat products. This title is full of color and vividness. Mongolians respect white and think milk is a noble and auspicious thing. If you praise your heart as white as milk, you will get the highest reward. Herdsmen who accidentally spill their breasts will immediately dip their fingers in their foreheads and say, "Ah, hey, this is a blessing." If you lose a little meat, you may throw it to cats and dogs. Regardless of the size of the banquet, use free food to open the way. It is a sacred etiquette for the host to serve a silver bowl full of milk and let the guests taste it one by one according to their age. Even if the guest is seventy or eighty years old and several times older than the host, he should pick up the silver bowl on his knees. Not for the owner, but for the milk. There were many people at the wedding. If one person is omitted from this etiquette, it will be the biggest mistake of the host and the biggest disrespect for the guests. Whenever we worship Yongyoot Thongkongtoon Mountain God, Aobao and Sulud, we will sprinkle the freshly squeezed milk to heaven and the holy priests. After the celebration and prayer, the fresh milk in the bucket is often waved and a ceremony is held to bring good luck and auspiciousness. When I came back from herding sheep, a sheep cut six or seven pieces and put them on a big plate, which looked like lying on weekdays. The sheep's head is on it, and the sheep's head is covered with butter, which means that red food should still be guided by white food.
2. Give priority to drinking. Tea is the face of Mongolians and the staple food of Mongolians. No matter who walks on the grass, whether he is familiar with Mongolian or Chinese, the host will first offer you tea with both hands: "If you have good tea to drink, you will have a good face." Today, Mongolians in pastoral areas drink tea in the morning and at noon, which is "a day without food is better than a day without tea". When drinking tea, herders pay attention to collocation: fried rice, ghee, butter and eggs, sugar, and often eat meat in winter. Herdsmen are used to drinking tea, and when they can't finish it, they will refill it. If the guest doesn't want to drink, you can declare it, otherwise you can only fill your stomach with tea. This is probably the difference between Mongolian and Han people in eating. Han people always feel underfed because they eat few snacks. Mongolians are used to eating thin things in snacks, and it is uncomfortable to eat them dry. For example, milk porridge and Huoling rice porridge (thin meat porridge) are, in fact, semi-liquid foods. Perhaps giving priority to drinking is a long-standing habit. Mongolians also call eating meat "drinking soup" and mutton "soup" and "soup sheep".
3. Lightweight and simple. "Fried rice with milk tea" is a great invention of nomadic people. There is not only a living basis, but also a scientific basis. Eating a hand-picked pork and a delicious tea is not only a combination of meat and vegetables, but also a combination of thick and thin, which is not greasy in the mouth, comfortable in the stomach and easy to digest. Mongolian people in pastoral areas often put fried rice in a whole piece of peeled calf skin (and sometimes some dried meat), and ghee in rumen soaked in acid water, and carry it on horses, so as not to be afraid of being broken, and they walk silently. Even in a deserted place, as long as there is water, a few pieces of dried cow dung can make a fire to make tea. Even today, when mowing the grass, taking a walk in Attl, pulling salt for a long distance or hunting, we still adhere to this relaxed and simple lifestyle.
Generally speaking, the food culture in Inner Mongolia has its own unique characteristics compared with other places.