What do people eat in Bhutan?

Mealtime

Staple diet is red rice, buckwheat, wheat, maize, pork, beef, chicken,
yak meat, cheese and chilies, which are taken as vegetable and not as
spice. Yak butter and cheese provide important calories in cold
highlands. Chili peppers are a favorite ingredient in Bhutanese
cuisine. Meat dishes, mainly pork, beef and yak,
are lavishly spiced with chilies, and it is common to
see bright red peppers drying on rooftops in the sun.

Emadatse (dish made of chili, cottage
cheese and herbs) is considered, unofficially, the national
dish.
Salted butter tea, or suja, is served on all social
occasions. Chang, a local beer, and arra, a spirit distilled
from rice, maize, wheat or barley, are also common and
widely favored. Doma or betel nut, is offered as a customary
gesture of greeting.

Popular Bhutan Recipes

Cucumbers with Onion and Cheeses - Side Dish
Ema Datshi (Chili and Cheese) - Side Dish
Hapai Hantue (Buckwheat Dumplings with Bok Choy and Poppy Seed Filling) - Main Dish
Kewa Datshi (Potatoes and Cheese) - Side Dish
Pork Fing (Pork with Bean Threads and Chili Peppers) - Main Dish

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