Urum (Mongolian Clotted Cream and Sugar)
The Mongolian clotted cream: whole milk simmered for hours, the cream skin lifted off and stacked in layers with sugar to set into a soft slab.
Overview
Whole milk pours into a wide shallow heavy pan. Brought slowly to a bare simmer (no boiling, boiling tears the skin). Held just below simmer for 2-3 hours. As the milk reduces, a thick skin forms; lifted gently with a slotted spoon and stacked in a deep dish. Repeat every 20-30 minutes as new skins form. The layered cream sits with sugar between each layer overnight; sets to a soft slab. Sliced and served.
Ingredients
- 2 litres whole milk (full-fat, organic if possible - fat content makes urum)
- 50 g caster sugar (or to taste)
- 1 pinch salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (optional, not traditional but pleasant)
Method
Stage 1 - The slow simmer
- Pour the milk into a wide shallow heavy pan (a sauté pan is ideal - more surface area means more cream skin forms).
- Add a pinch of salt.
- Place over the lowest possible heat.
- Bring the milk slowly to just-below-a-simmer - you'll see steam and tiny bubbles at the edge, but the surface should never break into a rolling boil.
- Hold here for 30-40 minutes; a wrinkled cream skin will form on the surface.
Stage 2 - Lift and stack
- When the first skin is thick and wrinkled (it should look like the skin on cooled custard), lift it gently with a slotted spoon, letting the milk drip back into the pan.
- Lay the skin in a small deep dish (a 15 cm round dish works well).
- Sprinkle a thin even layer of caster sugar over the skin (about a teaspoon).
- Return to the heat.
- Repeat every 20-30 minutes for 2-3 hours, building up 4-6 layers of skin in the dish, each separated by sugar.
Stage 3 - Use the reduced milk
- By the end you'll have about 500 ml of reduced sweet milk in the pan.
- This goes into tea (the Mongolian way) or chills as a sweet milk drink.
- Don't discard it - it's the second half of urum's value.
Stage 4 - Set
- Cover the layered cream dish; chill overnight (the layers fuse into a soft slab).
Stage 5 - Serve
- Lift the slab out of the dish; cut into slices like a small cake.
- Serve at the table with hot strong black tea (su tei tsai if you have it) or smeared on warm bread.
Notes
- Whole milk is the minimum: semi-skimmed barely forms a skin and tastes thin. Look for milk labelled ≥3 ½% fat.
- Low heat, no boiling: rolling boils tear the skin and you end up with milk solids at the bottom of the pan instead of cream on top.
- Wide pan, lots of surface: the skin forms on top, so surface area beats depth. A 30 cm sauté pan beats a 20 cm saucepan even if both hold 2 L.
- Don't stir: any agitation prevents the skin from forming. Lift skins gently; don't disturb the milk underneath.
Storage
- Keeps 4 days refrigerated in a covered dish.
- Doesn't freeze (the cream layers separate and weep on thaw).
- The reduced sweet milk keeps 3 days; use within for tea or porridge.
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