Buuza, nutritious Buryat food that fills you up like no other

Every **Russian **city has some **dishes **which characterize it. There are **pirozhki **or borsch, Pavlova cake or rassolnik. But, when you come to Siberia, you should look for a **cafe **with a funny name Poznaya. They specialize only in **buuzas **or **pozas **as they are called by the locals. **Buuza **is a Buryat kind of dumplings. They are prepared and consumed in an unusual way (the recipe will follow). When **travelling **to Siberia, it's a must for everyone to try buuza, **nutritious Buryat food **that **fills **you up like no other.

Where buuza came from

**Buuza **was not originally from Siberia. It derives (if one can say so about a dish) from other peoples' cuisines, especially those of China. It is believed that **buuza **is one of the variants of the xiaolongbao (in **Chinese **it's bāozi, you may notice how the name **bāozi **was transformed and became buuza). The **xiaolongbao **has lots of **stuffing variations **while **Buryat buuza **has only the **meat **one. The **dough **is slightly different in **bāozi **too - it's based on yeast while buuza's **dough **can be made without one. **Buuza **is very popular in **Mongolia too, where it's a holiday dish. It **is similar to **khinkali **of the Caucasian cuisine.

All of the mentioned **dishes **are prepared with steam, with a special steam cooker. The **stuffing **of a **traditional buuza **is **chopped meat **and onion.

Cook and eat your buuza right

Your **usual buuza **looks like a small tea-cup with a hole on top of it. The diameter of a **buuza **is 5-8 cm. Originally, to make a buuza, the cook has to make 33 **pinches **on the **dough **around the top. This form of a **buuza **allows for the **broth **to be kept inside. The **meat **and **onion **give their **taste **to the **broth **while being steamed. You have to eat **buuza **with your hands. Cutting it with knife results in the broth filling, the most delicious part of the buuza, spreading out. You have to take a bite of the bottom part of the **dough **and suck the **broth **through the hole. In **Buryatia, buuza **is very popular, and the **locals **usually have various **culinary contests **dedicated to this dish. Traditionally, families make them at home, passing the **recipes **from generation to generation. Sometimes, there are even **buuza-eating contests. **There was one in 2014 when the contestants consumed more than 20.000 buuzas. 

Where to go to try buuzas in Siberia

When you first set foot in the **Eastern Siberia **region, which will probably be through Irkutsk or Ulan Ude, you will see a huge number of **cafes **called “Poznaya”. The most **delicious buuzas **can be **consumed **in Poznaya38. Go straight there and try the buuza, **nutritious Buryat food **that **fills **you up like no other!