what exactly is 'ema datshi' and butter tea?!
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Ema Datshi
Chili and Cheese Stew
Ema Datshi, also transliterated as Ima Datshi, is Bhutan's national dish. The fiery concoction of green peppers and cheese is eaten in Bhutan almost daily, often accompanied by Bhutanese red rice. The stew is so fiery that I was afraid of both making it and eating it - one account of a couple of foreigners who ate it in Bhutan has them crying while eating it and feeling its effects until the next morning. They recommend that you coat your tongue with rice before spooning the stew into your mouth.
Ema Datshi
Ingredients
* 1/2 lb jalapeno chilies, sliced into 4 slices each
* 1 yellow onion, chopped
* 1 3/4 cup of water
* 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
* 2 tomatoes, chopped
* 5 cloves garlic, chopped
* 1/2 lb Danish feta cheese, cubed
* 3 leaves cilantro (optional)
Instructions
Combine chilies, onion and water in pot and add the oil. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and garlic and simmer for 3 more minutes. Add the cheese, mix and simmer for 3 more minutes. Turn off the heat, add the cilantro if using it, cover and let stand for a few more minutes before serving.
http://www.marga.org/food/int/bhutan/ema…
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Butter tea, also known as po cha (Tibetan: ??????; Wylie: bod ja, "Tibetan tea"), cha süma (Tibetan: ?????????; Wylie: ja srub ma, "churned tea"), Mandarin Chinese: su you cha (酥油茶; Pinyin: sū yóu chá) or goor goor in local Ladakhi terms, is a drink of the Tibetans and Chinese minorities in southwestern China. It is also consumed in Bhutan. It is made from tea leaves, yak butter, and salt.
Usage
Drinking butter tea is a regular part of Tibetan life. Before work, a Tibetan will typically down several bowlfuls of this tangy beverage, and it is always served to guests. Nomads are said to often drink up to 40 cups of it a day. Since butter is the main ingredient, butter tea is a very warming drink, providing lots of caloric energy and is particularly suited to high altitudes. The butter also helps prevent chapped lips.[1]
According to the Tibetan custom, butter tea is drunk in separate sips, and after each sip the host refills the bowl to the brim. Thus, the guest never drains his bowl; rather, it is constantly topped up. If the visitor does not wish to drink, the best thing to do is leave the tea untouched until the time comes to leave and then drain the bowl. In this way etiquette is observed and the host will not be offended.
Butter tea is also used for eating tsampa by pouring onto it, or dipping the tsampa into it, and mixing well.
The concentrate, produced by repeatedly boiling tea leaves, will keep for several days, and is commonly used in towns. The tea is then combined with salt and butter in a special tea churn (Tibetan: ????????; Wylie: mdong mo), and churned vigorously before serving hot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter_tea
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Making Tibetan butter tea: Po Cha
Ingredients:
* Water
* Plain black tea (in bags or loose)
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 1/2 cup milk or 1 teaspoon milk powder
* Materials: One churn, blender, or large drink container with a tight lid.
This po cha recipe is for four people, more or less.
First boil five to six cups of water, then turn down the fire. Put two bags of tea or one heaping tablespoon of loose tea in the water and boil again for a couple of minutes. Take out the tea bags or if you use loose tea, strain the tea leaves. Pour your tea, one quarter of a teaspoon of salt, two tablespoons of butter, and a half cup of milk or a teaspoon of milk powder into a chandong, which is a kind of churn. Please see the picture, in which we are using a plastic churn. Since churns are kind of rare outside of Tibet, you can do what some Tibetans do, which is to use any big container with a lid, so you can shake the tea, or you can just use a blender, which works very well. Churn, blend or shake the mixture for two or three minutes. In Tibet, we think the po cha tastes better if you churn it longer. Serve the tea right away, since po cha is best when it's very hot.
There are three ways to make tea: simple tea, milk tea and butter tea. The most common tea leaves are produced in the Han Land, as Fu Tea from Hunan, Tou Tea from Yunnnan and Ta Tea from Szechuan. Tibetan tea-drinking forms a special `tea culture'.
Simple tea is boiled tea without any additive.
Milk tea is also called sweetened tea. It is an imitation of English tea and Indian tea. However, tea, milk and sugar are boiled simultaneously, which gives it a distinct flavour.
To make butter tea, a Tibetan specialty, you put hot boiled tea and a dash of salt into a tall and slender churn, add a pat of butter, stir the mixture heavily until the tea and butter are well blended and ready to serve. Many non-natives find the taste of this tea a bit rank, but supposedly, once hooked, to go without it causes backaches.
http://www.tibet-tour.com/tibet/butter-t…
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'ema datshi' I can't help you with. Butter tea is typically drunk in the Himalayas, Tibet, etc., having the addition of yak butter to hot tea to increase the fat content, and therefore one's ability to manage cold, thin air.