Mongolian Grill/Barbecue/Hotpot (1961)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

   I'd posted an article about this phenomenon from a Hawaiian publication, about 1965.  Despite the claims that "Mongolian" cooking goes back to Genghis Khan, the 1965 article said it was "new" and "from Japan."
   Here's more, from NEW YORK TIMES full text.


   26 October 1959, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 32:
   "I particularly enjoyed a Mongolian-style meal, which I suppose is not strictly Chinese.  It reminded me of the Swiss fondue dishes.  You cook the meat yourself at the table and then dip it into some wonderful sauces.  The meat is generally mutton, which is not very common in CHina."

   6 April 1961, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 38:
_Director Stages Dinners in an Oriental Mood_
(Picture, then this photo caption--ed.)
Joshua Logan, the well-known theatrical personality, has spent considerable time in Japan and enjoys cooking oriental food specialties.  One of his favorites is a Mongolian grill,  which he is shown preparing on hibachi in one-room converted barn on his Connecticut property.
(...)
By CRAIG CLAIBORNE
(...)
   He was particularly fascinated by the Chinese restaurants in Tokyo, which he thinks are the finest in the world outside China, and by Mongolian restaurants, which, according to him, are to be found in every Japanese metropolis.
   "They're easy to find," he said recently, "because most of them are known as "Genghis Khan.  The grills in the restaurants are generally curved, helmet-fashion, the original idea being that the Mongols used their metal headpieces for cooking."
(A recipe for "Mongolian Grill" follows--ed.)

   9 December 1968, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 56:
_Tokyo's Restaurants: You Don't Have to Know the Language, but It Helps_
By CRAIG CLAIBORNE
(...)  The food at the Chinzan-so is of the sort known as Genghis-Khan, and it is outstanding if you like grilled dishes.  They say this kind of cooking has been popular for centuries; since the days of the Mongolian king when his tribesmen cooked meat on their preheted helmets.  There are individual metal grills at each table fired by gas jets.  Waitresses in modern dress preside over the grilling ceremony; the foods, grilled to perfection, dipped in a sauce made with soy and condiments, are served directly from grill to plate.