Thukpa

Thukpa is Tibet's primary noodle soup, eaten at breakfast and lunch across the plateau. The broth is made from yak or mutton bones, simmered with ginger, dried chillies and sometimes tomato, and is lighter and clearer than the meat-heavy broths of Sichuan or Gansu. Noodles are hand-pulled or hand-rolled from wheat flour and vary in shape — thick and square in the Lhasa style, thinner and round in areas closer to Sichuan. Toppings include yak meat, vegetables (dried radish, spinach, potato) and spring onion. In some versions a beaten egg is stirred in at the end. Thukpa is also found in Tibetan-adjacent areas of Yunnan, Sichuan's Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and Qinghai, where local cooks add regional touches. It is a practical, sustaining soup suited to cold, high-altitude conditions.