Lhasa famous snacks

“There’s everything in the bars in Lhasa” This song has been ringing in my ears since I was a child. I have been longing for Lhasa since then. When I grew up, I felt that Lhasa was a very mysterious place. The world-famous Potala Palace makes people yearn for it, and I am especially curious about the local customs and culture of Lhasa. I believe that many people have the same feeling as me, so the number of people traveling to Lhasa has always been increasing. So, what snacks are there in Lhasa?

Sweet teahouses can be said to be the most lively places in Lhasa, especially some well-known teahouses such as Zezhu (formerly Guangming) and Revolution Deji. They are always full of people from opening to closing in the afternoon. The old people get up early to circumambulate the prayer wheels, and then go to a sweet teahouse with friends to drink tea and chat. They put a handful of change on the table, and after the waiter fills a cup of tea, they take out 30 cents from it. Sweet tea is made from milk, brick tea and sugar, and is as sweet and rich as the milk tea in mainland China. Many sweet teahouses have many years of business history. The tables, chairs and beams in the teahouses reveal the vicissitudes of time, which makes people feel at ease. People who know each other and those who don’t know each other sit together in a crowded place. When you get hungry after chatting, you can have a bowl of Tibetan noodles or Tibetan dumplings, and the whole day will pass pleasantly like this.

Tibetan noodles are made with yak bone broth and served with fragrant Tibetan chili peppers. A bowl of Tibetan noodles costs 2 to 2.5 yuan, and comes with a serving of pickled radish for 50 cents, allowing you to experience authentic Tibetan snacks.

Jelly is a snack available in many places. The special thing about Tibetan jelly is the chili. Tibetan chili is different from chili oil. It is mainly soaked in water, so it has a refreshing spicy taste. Tibetan jelly is also served with potato cubes, one of the three major Tibetan dishes. It is usually sold in the small alleys of Barkhor Street, and costs one yuan per bowl. There is also a very special way to eat it in Lhasa, which is to put a large piece of jelly on the pancake, and then add chili, MSG, salt and chopped green onions on the jelly. It is extremely refreshing to take a bite. People who grew up in Lhasa have a special feeling for jelly pancakes, because it was one of the only snacks they had when they were young.

Yak jerky is one of the specialty foods on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Yaks live in the snow-capped plateau area at an altitude of more than 3,500 meters all year round and are free-range in the wild. Therefore, yak meat is considered to be a natural, pollution-free and harmless food.

Butter tea occupies a very important position in the Tibetan diet, similar to the three-in-one position of soup, tea and porridge in the Han diet. Butter tea is made by thoroughly mixing boiled brick tea and butter in a special butter barrel, and then adding a little salt after the tea and oil are integrated. Butter tea is high in calories and is a daily drink in Tibet, available in all seasons. Butter tea must be drunk while hot, as drinking it cold will damage the stomach. Butter tea has a certain effect on improving the body's resistance to altitude sickness

Exploding lungs and Tibetan voice. It is often seen in Lhasa and other places. The dish is made with sheep lung as the main ingredient, which is then boiled with ghee, flour, etc. and then fried. It is characterized by light brown color, crispy outside, soft inside and delicious taste.

Tibetan wine, one of the specialties of Lhasa, Tibet, is a Tibetan-made liquor. It is a low-alcohol liquor made from fermented wheat or barley with a light and mellow taste. The most distinctive Tibetan liquor is the Shaoxing liquor produced in Mangkam County in eastern Tibet and Yadong County on the border. Tibetan wine has unique health benefits, such as lowering blood sugar, lowering blood lipids, and improving human immunity.