Bhutanese cuisine is famed for its spiciness and almost every dish of Bhutan has chillies as a main ingredient. Bhutanese food is unlike any other food you will ever eat. Chillies are not just a seasoning here, but a true valuable vegetable. Therefore, you will find every Bhutanese food lavishly spiced with dried or fresh red and green chillies. Rice remains the staple food served with both meat and vegetables. Pork, beef and chicken dishes are cooked in every household.
Let’s take a delicious tour of some of the popular dishes of Bhutan -
Ema DatshiEma Datshi is believed to be the national dish of Bhutan prepared with a mix of chillis and local cheese. This dish is a staple of nearly every dish and can be found throughout the country. The dish is prepared in different ways by adding green beans, ferns, potatoes, mushrooms or swapping the regular cheese for yak cheese.
Kewa Datshi Kewa in Bhutanese is potato, so Kewa Datshi is potato cooked in cheese. The potatoes are typically sliced into thin pieces, then sauteed down with cheese and lots of butter. Sometimes cooks toss in a few chilies or tomatoes, but usually, it is a Bhutanese dish that’s pretty mild, and just focuses on potatoes and cheese.
Phaksha Paa Another popular dish of Bhutan is Phaksha Paa, made with pork. To make this popular dish, the slices of pork are stir fried and served with Hoentoe, a buckwheat dumpling along with green turnips, spinach and most importantly with datshi (cheese). Phaksha is best eaten with red rice.
Shakam Paa Another wonderful Bhutanese dish is the Shakam Paa made of dried beef cooked with dried chillies. The beef in the dish is slightly chewy from being dried and preserved and is combined with lots of dry chillies.
Goep The popularity of Goep has declined in almost all Asian countries, but Bhutan seems to not let go of this delicious dish just yet. Goep is a tripe dish which has a chewy texture and is prepared using the lining of the large stomach of animals that are sliced cut into small strips adding a variation of chopped vegetables, dried chilies, onions and other spices depending on your taste.
Hoentay Hoentay in Bhutan is dumpling (momo) that makes for a perfect snack. The dish is made of buckwheat dough, and is stuffed with chunks of meat or filled with a combination of turnip, spinach, cheese, soyabeans etc steamed or fried. It was originated from Haa Valley in Bhutan and goes best with Bhutanese chilli sauce called ezay.
Jaju Jaju is Bhutanese milk and vegetable soup, and is often made with type of local spinach and turnip leaves. The soup broth consists of milk and butter. Overall, the taste is usually quite mellow and plain, but it goes well together to supplement a full Bhutanese feast.
South Asia is home to solid one-third of the world’s population. The region is home to the highest and the second highest mountain peaks of the world Everest and K2. Housing marvels such as the Taj Mahal, Ajanta, Sigiriya, Timpu, and Taxila, the heritage and cultures of the region date back thousands of years.
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