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Tsampa
糌粑 · Zānbā
Roasted barley flour, the staple Tibetan food. Mixed with butter tea into a dough, eaten by hand.
Tsampa is the staple food of Tibet — barley grains roasted then ground into flour. Eaten by mixing with yak butter tea into a thick paste, which is then rolled into small balls and eaten by hand. Sometimes mixed with sugar for a sweeter version, or with cheese. High-calorie, simple, and the food that has supported Tibetan civilisation for centuries.
Where to try
Tibetan family homes; Lhasa traditional restaurants and tea houses.
Dietary notes
Barley (gluten). Often mixed with butter (dairy).
Other southwest dishes
- Baba Flatbread粑粑
Yunnan's daily flatbread — a thick wheat or rice-flour round cooked on a griddle and eaten plain or stuffed.
- Bang Bang Chicken棒棒鸡
Cold poached chicken shredded by hand, dressed in chilli oil, sesame paste and Sichuan peppercorn.
- Boiled Fish in Chilli Oil水煮鱼
Fish slices submerged in a deep pool of chilli oil and Sichuan peppercorns. Served bubbling.
- Chongqing Hotpot重庆火锅
The original mala hotpot — a simmering cauldron of beef tallow, Pixian doubanjiang and Sichuan peppercorn for communal dipping.