Yakking it Up on the Rooftop of the World

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When I had the opportunity to go to Tibet, I jumped at it. In recent years, there have been a lot of romanticization about Tibet. It’s been trendy to put prayer flags on front porches, talk about the Dalai Lama, and fantasize that it is a country of yogis and vegan Buddhists.

Lhasa is an incredible place with rich history and culture. There is one monastery famous for its 2PM daily debates. All the monks gather in the courtyard and the monks are paired up. A topic or question is introduced, a hand is slapped and the other must respond. It was mesmerizing watching these monks in saffron robes slap their hands and finger their beads, deeply interested and engaged with words and thoughts.

I actually had the fortunate to be present when the Dalai Lama gave an audience in New York City over a year ago. It was in Tibetan, so I had no idea what he was saying, but I recall being totally charmed anyways – he stood delivering a speech to an audience of hundreds as if he was talking to each person individually, smiling, laughing.

In any case, it is tough to get visas to Tibet, and a day after I entered the country, the border had shut down again because of some protest in Taiwan. While I could talk about politics here, let’s talk about food instead. Come with me on food photo journey.

The Dalai Lama’s home is beautiful…

…but even it couldn’t avoid the wonderful global commercialization. Yes, that DOES say BUDWEISER!

The first night we arrived, it was late and we were all hungry. Of course, the largest place that was still open happened to be Chinese.

It was a place where you could get a Mongolian hot pot–where they stick a big pot of boiling water or stock and you put in what you want–meats, vegetables, fish.

The tricky part was there were a few vegetarians in the group and no one who spoke Mandarin more than a few words, including numbers and basic words like “vegetable, meat, and no”, so trying to convince the waitress that we needed a stock that was “NO MEAT, YES VEGETABLE” proved to be an arduous task. (The part about Buddhist vegans? Not here). In the end, my sister and I got to go into the kitchen. I spent 30 minutes pointing to greens and flapping my arms like a chicken while shaking my head “no.” No joke.

It was fascinating watching behind-the-scenes, the deft chopping of vegetables and fine slicing of meat into thin slivers so that they would cook in the broth.

Subsequently, it was straight up Tibetan food.

You must know by now, I’m a meat eater. Tibetan’s version of fatty pork belly is insanely sweet and rich.

Can you smell it? YUM! Tibetans also use a lot of yak meat instead of beef, which I found a bit game-y. (As much as I love beef and bison, I am actually not a lamb or goat fan). Yak and tomato, however, go splendidly together.

Of course, vegetarian options are widely available. But let me continue on this yak thing…Tibetan food has many influences of Nepalese, Indian, and Chinese flavors, from dals to fried rice. There’s also some interesting blends of East and West with this yak and fusilli dish.

But my favorite, oh, my favorite are MOMOS. Maybe we can convince ZomppaTsering to share her famous recipe (which are better than any I’ve had). Momos are juicy dumplings wrapped in either doughy buns or a thinner wrap. When you put one in your mouth, they “pop” and the juices just flow. Dipped in a hot sauce (ZomppaTsering makes one we have dubbed “Magma”), they are blissful. (Yes, they come vegetarian, too). These? Yak.

Guess what? Tsampa, Tibetan tea, is also made with yak…yak butter, which can be found in large quantities on the streets.

My favorite place to have tea, though, was a hidden gem. One afternoon of wandering the street markets, I peeked into a little hallway to discover  a gorgeous and open atrium. It was a teahouse/restaurant and soon my favorite little hangout with my favorite traveling buddies.

Whatever your politics, whether you’re vegetarian or a yak-eater, eating is spiritual, eating is communal, eating is connecting with our bodies.

Eating in Tibet is an experience like eating on the rooftop of the world.

Tags: Budweiser, cultural, culture, Dalai Lama, food, heritage, Lhasa, meat, momos, Mongolian hot pot, Tibet, travel, Tsampa, yak

Category: South/Southeast Asia, Travel & Culture