Heviin boov is one of the sacred foods for the Lunar New Year of Mongolians. The heviin boov is shoe sole-shaped pastry made of specially-prepared dough, and it is boiled in Mongolian butter (Shar tos).
Mongolians use a wooden stamp to print in the center of the pastry various decorative patterns which symbolize all the best and every family put in tiers on a big plate the pastries mold by the wooden stamp with a variety of patterns.
The heviin boov’s ingredients include wheat flour, Mongolian butter which is prepared from milk, sugar and salt. Nowadays Mongolians make the heviin boov using traditional and contemporary technologies, so the pastry is often cooked in a vegetable oil. The heviin boov which is made with mongolian butter has a good taste and smells nice. It also possible to reserve the pastry boiled in Mongolian butter for a long time without losing its quality.
When the Tsagaan Sar is approaching, national food producers make thousands of heviin boov and sell it to families. Mongolians believe that the quality of heviin boov determines good luck of a family in that year.
Mongolians decorate the heviin boov, maintaining a sophisticated rule, for example, the heviin boov is put in tiers on a plate with a layer of odd number. Young newlyweds make a three or five-layer heviin boov. Families with old aged people make the seven or nine-layer. The top of the heviin boov heap has to be decorated with sweets, pieces of sugar and cream.
The heviin boov is used for the sacred food not only during the Tsagaan Sar, but also during weddings, celebrations of new homes, festivals and statehood celebrations.