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Cheese from Inner Mongolia, China

Khuruud (hurood)

Raw milk is left at ambient temperature for 16–48 hours until environmental microorganisms acidify and set it. The sour milk is warmed to 40–50 °C so the curd separates from the whey, then the curd is stirred and heated to about 80 °C until it melts, poured into wooden moulds and left to cool and dry. No rennet is used; acid and heat set the curd.

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedHousehold and workshop practice with no fixed amounts; a lab study added a 3 % starter of three native lactic strains in a 5:4:1 ratio.
Raw milk[chen2026]
No added starterIn the traditional method, environmental microorganisms acidify the raw milk; a lab study tested an added lactic starter[chen2026][yang2024]
Starterspontaneous; environmental microorganisms acidify the raw milk

Total time across the recorded steps: 16 h – 2 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countLactococcusLactobacillusStreptococcusLactococcus lactispH 6.6 → 4.36Milk sugarLactic acid

What changes: Raw milk stands a day or two until environmental microorganisms sour and set it

Step 1 of 5
Let raw milk sour on its own
Time
16 h – 2 days
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
pH 6.6 → 4.36
Measured
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus
Lactobacillus
Streptococcus
Lactococcus lactis
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

environmental microorganisms acidify and set the milk

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Raw milk is left at ambient temperature for 16–48 hours until environmental microorganisms acidify and set it. The sour milk is warmed to 40–50 °C so the curd separates from the whey, then the curd is stirred and heated to about 80 °C until it melts, poured into wooden moulds and left to cool and dry. No rennet is used; acid and heat set the curd. Made in 5 steps over 16 h – 2 days. The longest step, let raw milk sour on its own, takes 16 h – 2 days (Chen T 2026). Lactococcus and Lactobacillus, which dominate the soured milk, whey and finished hurood; Lactococcus (16.4 %) and Streptococcus (15.5 %) are already in the raw milk and Lactococcus lactis, 52.4 % of 319 lactic isolates across four production stages do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step16 h – 2 daysReported[chen2026]Let raw milk sour on its own
Temperature40–50 °CReported[chen2026]Warm to split curd and whey
AciditypH 5.6Measured[chen2026]Dry the moulded curd

What makes this one different

Khuruud is set by the milk's own souring and then heat, with no rennet, and the curd is melted at about 80 °C and moulded before drying. Aaruul is cut or shaped from drained curd and dried hard without melting; byaslag is a fresh pressed curd.

Coagulation
Acid and heat, with no chymosin
Counts
Total aerobic count 7.3 log CFU/g in raw milk and 2.0 log CFU/g in hurood

Related ferments

Safety

The melting step at about 80 °C cut coliforms from 4.5 log CFU/g in raw milk to 0.3 log CFU/g in hurood in one study, and they were found only in household-made hurood. Hurood is exposed to air during processing and moulds were counted in it, so dry it clean and keep it dry.

Hazards the sources name: Coliforms, 4.5 log CFU/g in raw milk falling to 0.3 log CFU/g in hurood; found only in household-made hurood.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Hurood is a daily food in Inner Mongolia, made at three scales today, in herders' homes, small workshops and factories.

  1. [chen2026] Chen T., Niu Y., Pan Y., Zhang X., Liu L., Pang S., Zhao Y. et al. 2026, Impact of Manufacturing Stages and Processing Scales on the Microbial Profile of Hurood, Foods 15(13):2261paper
  2. [yang2024] Yang Y., Xia Y., Wang Y.R., Sun L.S., Shuang Q., Zhang F.M. 2024, Optimization of lactic acid bacterial starter culture to improve the quality and flavor characteristics of traditional Hurood, Journal of Dairy Science 107(1):105–122 (abstract)paper
  3. [guo2023] Guo S., Da L., Li L., Li B., Wang D., Liu W., Menghe B., Chen Y. 2023, Composition and changes of microflora in the manufacturing process of traditional hurood, LWT - Food Science and Technology 181 (abstract)paper