The milk processing system of the Mongolian pastoralist Heshigten group in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China

Abstract The purpose of this study was to: 1) conduct a field survey to understand the milk processing techniques of the sedentary Mongolian pastoralists in Darahan Or Sumu, Heshigten Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region; 2) clarify their characteristics through comparison with cases from surrounding regions; and 3) analyse their knowledge from the perspective of milk science. Field surveys were conducted in August 2025, covering a total of five Heshigten households. The Heshigten group is characterised by a specialisation in cream separation techniques, the absence of sour milk processing and the production of both distilled spirits from whey and stretchable cheeses. These features constitute a distinctive milk culture in central Inner Mongolia. In the no-heating cream separation process, whey generated during curd processing under low-temperature heating is allowed to undergo natural fermentation. It is subsequently heated to produce shar osnii aarool , a whey protein–based cheese. All of the whey produced is fully utilised in the production of distilled spirits. From the perspective of milk science, these practices indicate that the indigenous knowledge of milk processing among the Heshigten group is grounded in technically valid principles. Furthermore, stretchable pasta filata cheeses known as changaldum khorood and khorood are produced without the use of rennet. In contrast, pasta filata cheeses produced using rennet are traditionally developed in the eastern Mediterranean region. Given the differences in the use of rennet as a coagulant and the absence of evidence for pasta filata cheeses in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, this study proposes the hypothesis of a ‘dual independent origin of pasta filata technique in Eurasia’, whereby pasta filata cheeses emerged independently in the eastern Mediterranean and in the Inner Mongolia–Tibetan Plateau.