Vegetarian here. Mongolia – not so (vegetarian). Our solution? A Turkish restaurant, the best in Ölgii. Browsing through the menu, ’sea buckthorn juice’ catches my eye. It seems like a Kazakh tradition to me, as my new Kazakh friend from Russian Altai tells me about its preparation process when I let her know on just how much of this juice I had drunk. Cold and hot.  

How to make it at home?

(makes 4 glasses)

170g sea buckthorn

60g sugar

400ml water

Wash the sea buckthorn – you can use the berries fresh or frozen; I don’t remove the tails –.

Juice the sea buckthorn berries.

Add the sugar and then the water.

If you don’t have a juicer, blend the sea buckthorn berries, sieve the obtained mixture and then add the sugar and the water.

The good part? Especially in winter – when we must take better care of us –, sea buckthorn juice is wonderful, this superfood containing 15 times more vitamin C than oranges. It isn’t surprising, then, that Mongolians hold sea buckthorn so dear especially during their long and freezing winters!