Top 10 Tibetan Food and Drinks

Traditional Tibetan cuisine is mainly based on dairy products (yak milk and cheese), yak meat and barley. What I have noticed is that vegetables and fruits are scarce in such a high altitude and street drinks and snacks, in contrast to China, are rarely available. You can dine out in restaurants instead enjoying their beautiful Tibetan design.

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I tried a lot of Tibetan food, including snacks, confectioneries and drinks. Here is my top 10 food and drinks Tibet offers:

1. Momos with hot chocolate

Momos are traditional dumplings (very similar to Chinese jiaozi or baozi) filled with meat or vegetables. You can get them fried or boiled depending on your preferences. They are served with oil and pepper sauce, yummy! The best drink for momos is hot chocolate. The one I had was very nice, milky and sweet, great to start your day!

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2. Yak wraps

If you are a big fan of wraps, as me, you will love the yak meat wraps served with vegetables and garlic sauce! Yak meat tastes like a duck meat, a little chewy.

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3. Lhasa beer

Lhasa Beer is considered to be the first Tibetan beer available to the world. It is made with the finest ingredients such as Saaz hops, yeast, Himalayan Spring Water and Tibetan barley.

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4. Tibetan pastries (kind of salty/ sweet fritter)

There are traditional sweet crisp pastry made out of dough that has been shaped into thin twisted ribbons. They are deeply fried and sprinkled with powdered sugar or salted. You can soak them in the buttered tea or hot chocolate, yummy!

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5. Naizha Cake

This is a kind of Tibetan cheese cake, very delicious and sweet. Naizha is a Tibetan kind of cheese. Naizha cake is made with butter, brown sugar, zanba and naizha cheese.

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6. Tibetan rolls with Tibetan salted yak butter tea or sweet milk tea

 Tibetan rolls are served mainly in the morning so you can simply get them hot and fresh for breakfast. You can soak them in the buttered tea which is very healthy as it benefits to the nerve and conquer the plateau sicknesses.

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You can see the Tibetan lady making traditional buttered or salty tea in the picture below.

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7. Boiled salty/spicy potatoes

Looks and sounds very simple- boiled potatoes but if you sprinkle them with Tibetan herbs and spices it has completely different taste!

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8.Thenthuk (Tibetan Noodle Soup)

My favourite noodle soup was yak noodle soup. Noodles are very thick and you get a big slices of meat with some vegetables. Great for warming you up!

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9. Tibetan yogurts

They are mainly sold in small shops or on the market in the morning. Yogurts are kind of food full of nourishing components and easier to digest, very creamy and tasty made from yak’s milk.

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10. Chang wine- Tibetan barley wine

Tibetan wine is very mild, slightly sweet and sour not containing a lot of alcohol. It’s a great drink for your dinner and it’s a very famous alcoholic drink in Lhasa.

There are few fruit and vegetable markets around Lhasa so you should not have any problems with getting them here.

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In Tibet you can also get many famous in Sichuan province (China) dishes. Nowadays, due to growing tourism in Tibet, restaurants serve a lot of Chinese,  Indian and Nepalese food and you can find a western food in your menu too. Lhasa offers a variety of herbs and spices too.

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It’s hard to get a fish though due to Tibetan religion and custom (killing a fish to feed only 1 or 2 people is not good) but you can enjoy a cold lemon shake during hot days (like I did :)!

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Agness Walewinder
Agness Walewinder
Travel freak, vagabond, photography passionate, blogger, life enthusiast, backpacker, adventure hunter and endless energy couchsurfer living by the rule "Pack lite, travel far and live long!"
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2 thoughts on “Top 10 Tibetan Food and Drinks”

  1. Avatar of I can't wait to get my Tibetan Name
    I can't wait to get my Tibetan Name

    I enjoyed your website today!! So many of us are finding our Tibetan roots, although we are not all told about them. The awareness of Tibet can be found everywhere, including here. Regards, “I can’t wait to get my Tibetan name”

  2. Avatar of Christy*

    Hi, Many thanks for providing a daily “bite” of your stay in Tibet. I’m curious on how to “pack lite” as in your description. Would you, when you have a moment, please let me know 1- What luggage do you use? Do you check a bag or do you fit it all into the carry-on limits? 2- What do you pack (examples please, in reference to a certain hiking pant that works well, zip-offs, a jacket/windbreaker….anything that has proven to work for you along the way)? 3- Do you bring a favorite soap (like Dr. Bronner’s for instance) so you can wash and hang-dry essentials (ie underwear)? 4- What are some things that you have missed and deem important (can’t do withouts) that you will bring on future travels? All in all, please share with me some things that will help me travel lite. Thanks in advance!

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