Ugyen Zangmo

Other related cuisine of Bhutan   Hoentay Known especially for originating from Haa Valley in Bhutan, hoentay are similar to momos, but they are made with a buckwheat dough wrapper. The dumplings are usually filled with a combination of a local spinach or turnip leaves and cheese, and again, they can either be steam ed or f ried. When I was in Haa Valley for a few days, I enjoyed numerous plates of hoentay, which are hearty and filling, and are especially good when drowned in Bhutanese chili sauce (ezay). Lom Due to the harsh winter conditions in many areas of Bhutan, vegetables can sometimes be scarce in the winter. Lom, which are turnip leaves, are one of the few vegetables that can be dried and preserved and eaten throughout the year. The actual turnips themselves are fed to the livestock. For lom, it can be sautéed by itself, or cooked with some sikam (dried pork) to give it some extra delicious flavor. I really enjoyed eating lom when I spent some time in Phobjikha Valley. At ...

  Doma Like elsewhere in South Asia, chewing doma pani (བདོག་མ་པ་ནི་) is popular throughout Bhutan. Also referred to simply as doma (བདོག་མ་), the collation consists of a quarter or more of the areca nut (Areca catechu; doma), betel leaves (pani or paan) as it is known in South Asia, and a dab of slaked lime (tsuni, derived from chuna in Hindi). Scholars trace the origin of doma substances to the Indonesian archipelago. It is said to have reached the Indian sub-continent in the first half of the first millennium and gained widespread use as a snack encompassing a range of social meanings including hospitality, love, honour, commitment, and auspiciousness. It is difficult to say exactly when the practice of eating doma reached Bhutan but there are clear accounts of betel leaves and areca nuts being imported into Bhutan from India in the later part of the 18th century.                                ...

 Bhutanese enjoy the hardest cheese in the world like chewing gums The Bhutanese consume a lot of dairy. This is no surprise because Bhutan is cold, and dairy provides the warmth and strength necessary for survival. Besides, the high altitude and closed economy makes it viable for rearing cows, yaks, sheep, and goats; livestock that provide dairy products. But of all that dairy, there is one product that rules them all... cheese! As a matter of fact, a Bhutanese experience is not complete without tasting their cheese. Chugo, arguably the hardest cheese in the world On another note, when you see the locals randomly chewing as they go about their daily lives, they are likely either munching on doma (betel nut), or gnashing on chugo. Chugo, also known as chhurpi, is a type of hardened cheese popular in Bhutan.                                          It is made of yak’s milk. You c...

  Other dishes to ea t Other dishes to eat when you are in Bhutan   when you are in Bhutan  Kewa datshi Kewa is potato, so kewa datshi is potatoes and Bhutanese cheese. It surprised me by how similar kewa datshi is to a dish similar to scalloped potatoes. The potatoes are typically sliced into thin pieces, then sautéed down with cheese and lots of butter. Sometimes cooks will toss in a few chilies or tomatoes, but usually, this is a Bhutanese dish that’s pretty mild, but just focuses on potatoes and cheese . Shamu datshi A third staple cheese dish in Bhutanese food is shamu datshi, cheese with mushrooms. Being a chili addict, ema datshi is my personal favorite variation of a Bhutanese veggie cheese dish, but shamu datshi was a close second. The mushrooms, which can be any variety of local Bhutanese Himalayan mushroom, are again, cooked into a cheesy saucy stew along with butter. Just like with all the other variations of Bhutanese datshi, you eat shamu datshi along with r...