Lhasa Food

Tibetan food comes first when travelling in Lhasa. Local Tibetan food has its unique ethnic characteristic which is consisted mainly of barley, meat and dairy products and vegetables are scarce. Its flavor is fresh, light and tender with salt, onion, and garlic as the main ingredients. Tsampa, Butter, Tea, Beef and Mutton are called four treasures of Tibetan food. Besides, Highland Barley Wine and various dairy products are also famous local food.

Tsampa is a daily staple food made from parched barley. Local Tibetans eat Tsampa with Butter tea which has very high nutrition value and is extracted from yak milk by hard churning. Dried beef and mutton is popular local food with high calories and it is good for people living on the tableland to keep warm. Yoghurt, a food for more than 1,000 years, is another important daily dairy for Tibetan people. Other famous local dishes and snacks include Blood sausage, Momo, Thenthuk and yak tongue.

Qingke Barley Liquor is the main ingredient of tsampa. Tsampa is barley flour, made from parched barley, un-husked and ground into fine flour, and then eaten with butter. People also make tsampa by mixing qingke flour and peas. Tsampa made from qingke is a Tibetan traditional food, served in most restaurants of Lhasa to give visitors from all over the world a taste of Tibet. At religious festivals, Tibetans will sprinkle tsampa as a sign of blessing.

Butter Tea is the main drink in Tibetan's daily life, made from butter, brick tea and salt. People of the Zang nationality have the habit of drinking it, which is said to help digestion. The hospitable Tibetan welcome VIP with Butter Tea, and it is impolite to refuse it. The Tea Party has been running through all kinds of klatch.

Zanba is a very commonly seen food on Tibetan people's dining tables. It is a kind of dough made with roasted highland qingke barley flour and yak butter with water.

Beef and mutton are rich in calories, which helps people living on the Roof of the World to keep warm. Tibetans have a custom of eating raw meat. If you go to a herdsman's or a farmer's home, you will see the air-dried beef and mutton hung inside the house or tents. The host will invariably treat you to such meat, which can only be tasted on the Plateau of Tibet.

Tibetan medicines are mysterious. Mashed yak meat is a mixture of some Tibetan medicine and mashed raw beef (yak meat). Blood red and pungent, you will feel hot inside after eating it. It is said that Tibet is a place where time can stop still. People today still like to enjoy the sunshine at the foot of the Potala Palace after such a good meal, feeling rather satisfied.