Tibetan · drink
Yak Butter Tea
酥油茶 · Sūyóu Chá
Yak butter, salt and tea churned together. Calorie-dense, salty-oily, the universal Tibetan beverage.
Yak butter tea (suyoucha) is the universal beverage of the Tibetan plateau. Brick tea is steeped in boiling water, then churned vigorously with yak butter and salt for 5+ minutes — the result is a thick, salty, oily, calorie-dense liquid. Tibetans drink dozens of cups a day; offered to guests as a hospitality default. The taste is initially strange to those raised on sweet Western tea; the high-calorie warmth makes sense at altitude in cold weather.
Where to try
Lhasa tea houses, monastery refectories, Tibetan-cultural-area family homes if you visit.
Dietary notes
Dairy. Refusing politely is fine.
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.