Interestingly, the restaurant scene in Lhasa is predominantly Chinese, with the flavours of neighbouring Sichuan featuring everywhere, and catering to the very large Chinese community that populates Lhasa. These, and a sprinkling of Muslim Hui eateries providing an alternative to Tibetan food.

The so-called “elevated beyond a subsistence diet” Tibetan Cuisine as mentioned in The Lonely Planet, is featured by a number of mainly Nepali run restaurants, offering dishes that may seem to be Tibetan by virtue of their names, which sometimes include geographical indications.  But, once the food arrives at the table, one can sometimes recognise that some of the dishes had influences that could have only come from outside Tibet.

At the Snowlands Restaurant where I had my first lunch, I ordered a Tsamthuk Soup, an order of Yak Momos, and a Sweet Milk Tea.

Tsamthuk Soup, Yak broth thickened with tsampa.

The Tsamthuk Soup was a rich, almost creamy soup, almost like a velouté, but with a grittier texture.  This was made with a yak broth, chunks of yak, shredded radish, spinach leaves, and thickened with tsampa.

Boiled Yak Momos with a Tomato Chutney Dip

The Yak Momos were boiled, and arrived neatly arranged on an oval plate, looking very much like Chinese Guo Tie.  These had a rather dominant yak flavour, but the spicy tomato chutney like dip served with them helped to mask a bit of the yakkiness…

The Sweet Milk Tea, also called cha ngamo locally, is very similar to the sweet milk teas served here in Singapore.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t particularly strong, and was in fact quite weak, with the mug arriving with the tea bag still in it…

The next meal was at the New Upper Mandala Restaurant, an open-air type rooftop restaurant overlooking the Johkhang Temple.

Here, I had an Amdo Soup and Fried Lhasa Lamb Ribs with Potatoes.

Lhasa Lamb Ribs with Potatoes and Amdo Soup

The Amdo Soup was a deeply coloured, lightly spicy (chilli powder) and sour (vinegar) yak soup garnished with chopped Spring Onions (scallions).  It was robust and warming, with a consistency that reminded me of a Hungarian Goulash.  It also had a strong resemblance to neighbouring Sichuan’s Hot & Sour Soup, but without all the associated bits of ingredients one would find in a typical Sichuan Hot & Sour Soup…

The Fried Lhasa Lamb Ribs with Potatoes were almost an echo of the soup, with the flavour of chilli powder dominating.  Fortunately, they were not very hot (by my standards)… The roughly chopped lamb ribs were marinated in chilli powder, chopped spring onions (again) and mustard oil, and were deep-fried.  These were served with roughly cut potato chips that had previously been par-cooked, then deep-fried in fat (possibly the same fat as the lamb, and at the same time too…) till crisp and hard.  The dish had a rather bold lamb flavour, and fortunately, I had a nice cold Lhasa Beer to wash it down…

Tibetan Set

The next meal was in the garden of The Garden Restaurant.  I had the “Tibetan Set” which comprised of a few dishes served on a platter, somewhat like an Indian Thali Set Meal.  On the metal platter, was served some Osun, what was probably lettuce stem, Tibetan Sausage, stuffed with heavily spiced lamb intestines, and which had a deep, smokey flavour.  Shogo Katsa, sliced potatoes with chilli powder and mustard oil with a mild flavour and just a touch of heat.  Son Labu, a delicately pink coloured and mildly flavoured shredded pickled radish dish with dried chillies.  Kham Salad, a light and refreshing dish of black fungus (woodsear) and vermicelli salad dressed in rapeseed and mustard oil.

All these mostly vegetable dishes, were accompanied with a mantou like steamed bun called Logo Momo, a Tomato Dipping Sauce with the consistency of a pureed soup, and spiced with a hint of chillies, and a serving of Yak Yoghurt for dessert.

Chang Soup and Shabaleb Bread stuffed with Yak Meat

Dinner that day was at a restaurant called Lhasa Kitchen, where I tried Chang Soup, a soupy concoction of Barley Beer/Wine, small cubes of Indian Cottage Cheese (Paneer), and spiced with a sprinkling of ground black pepper.  The soup smelt mildly alcoholic, and was somewhat thick and robust, with an alcoholic, residual sugar sweetness, and a lightly yeasty, bread-like flavour.

For mains, I had Shabaleb Bread stuffed with Yak Meat, an unleavened bread, which was basically two round pieces of unleavened bread, one on top of the other, with a stuffing of shredded yak meat seasoned with spring onions (scallions), and with the sides folded at the edges like a curry puff, and (possibly) shallow fried.  This was served in quarter cuts and stacked, and were quite mild in flavour.

Bobi Set

The next meal was at Tibet Steak House, where lunch was something called a Bobi Set.  In concept, this was very similar to something available in many Chinese provinces called the Bao Bing, and also similar to something which we call Popiah in Singapore.  The idea of the Bobi, is that you have soft, thin rounds of unleavened wheat bread, and you put in an assortment of ingredients, roll the bread, and eat it as a roll.  To compare this with something Western, think of the Tex-Mex Fajitas, but without the usual hot-plate…

The stuffing in the case of this Bobi were, shredded green and red chilli peppers sautéed like a vegetable.  These were sweet, and only mildly spicy.  There was also Osun, or lettuce stems, which were shredded, and sautéed with sliced onions, chilli powder and ground black pepper.  Chinese Celery Stems sautéed with shallots and ginger, enhanced with a whisper of light soya sauce, and the delicately pink Pickled Radish shreds, with dried chillies, and with shreds of yak meat.

This was served with a bowl of hearty Yak broth, with cubes of flavourful yak meat, radish, spring onions (scallions), and whole dried chillies.

Fried Cheese Momos with a Cold Curried Dip

Eventually, I made my way to the famous Dunya Restaurant and popped in for dinner.  Operated by Western expatriates, this was the only restaurant I visited with a proper bar.  Dinner was an order of Fried Cheese Momos, which the Dunya was famous for.  These were crescent shaped, and were filled with cheese and deep-fried.  Served with a cold curried dipping sauce, which was a little fiery despite its rather pale colour.  Interestingly, the consistency of the cheese was rather like that of melted Swiss Raclette, whilst the flavour was somewhat like Dutch Gouda.

This was washed down with a mug of Hot Ginger Tea, which helped to cut the somewhat stodgy greasiness of the deep-fried Cheese Momos, and, reduced the nausea of being at such a high altitude.

When I later met the owner of the establishment at his bar, I discovered over a couple of drinks, that the cheese used in his Cheese Momos, was specially made and aged for him in Nepal, before delivery to Tibet.

The fame of Dunya’s Cheese Momos, was due to their acceptable eating qualities to western travellers, and, not to their notoriety, as I had originally thought, as these were not made with Yaks Cheese…

Yak and Potato Stew with Pa

Lhasa Namaste Restaurant was where the next lunch took place, and it is here that I had a Yak and Potato Stew with Pa.  The Yak and Potato Stew, also called shamjay, is a traditional Tibetan stew.  It was somewhat like a thick curry, and was quite mild, tasting somewhat like an Indian Dhal, but with meat.  This was served with Pa, which is tsampa mixed with yak butter tea, and hand-rolled until a solid mass is formed.  Pa, is very dense, and heavy, with a mild flavour, somewhat like rye bread or Indian chapattis, and is very filling.

My final dinner in Tibet brought me back to the Dunya, which was the only restaurant that seemed to have space that day, the others being quite full, and not willing to take in a single diner.

Meat (yak) Thukpa

This time, I had a Meat (yak) Thukpa, which was basically egg noodles in a yak broth.  The soft, flat egg noodles were served in a moderately robust but quite intensely tasty broth, with red peppers, haricots verts, cucumbers, spring onions, carrots, lettuce stems and boiled yak meat, all shredded, or cut shred cuts, except for the haricots, which were in a horse ear cut.  The influence here, was definitely Chinese…

In my time spent in Lhasa exploring not only the sights, but also the restaurant scene, it became quite clear that Tibetan cuisine as featured in the restaurants in Lhasa, was something created to cater to foreign travellers.  The restaurants that catered to these international travellers, tended to offer not only what they called Tibetan cuisine, but cuisines like Indian, Nepali, Chinese, and Western dishes, all in the same menu as well.

These restaurants will soon face an interesting challenge from the new International Chain Hotels that are due to open in Lhasa.  Who knows what creations the likes of the St Regis, and Banyan Tree Resorts will bring, when these open in 2010 and beyond?

So, frankly speaking, did I happen to enjoy the food at all?  Well, my experience with this interpretation of Tibetan cuisine in Lhasa, was generally positive.  The dishes were mostly tasty, and, for one who has eaten widely and has tried many cuisines, I found that the flavours were not too alien.

The drinks, however, were a different story…

Find out more on the next post, Tibet Special Part 3 – Tibetan Beverages

To celebrate Singapore’s 44th National Day yesterday, a long time friend organised to have several foodie friends drop by to her humble abode to cook a “Red & White” themed dinner.

One of my contributions to the dinner party was a Red-Braised Pork dish which I had been meaning to try for a long time.

This recipe is adapted from Fuschia Dunlop’s treatise on Hunanese Cuisine, the aptly named “Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook“.

According to Dunlop, in Hunan, Red-Braised Pork is often touted as having medical virtues and is eaten as a health food, and, in the words of Chairman Mao‘s nephew Mao Anping: “Men eat it to build their brains, and ladies to make themselves more beautiful.”

The recipe is originally from Chairman Mao’s nephew, and was supposedly the one Chairman Mao loved and ate frequently, to the extent of having had his Hunanese chef cook it for him in Beijing.  I have added a few water chestnuts to give it a nice crunchy contrast.

Chairman Mao's Red-Braised Pork

Chairman Mao’s Red-Braised Pork Recipe
(Serves 6)

Ingredients:

750g Pork Belly (Skin On)
3 tbsp Peanut Oil
3 tbsp White Sugar
2 tbsp Shaoxing Wine
30g Fresh Ginger (Old, Sliced with skin on)
8 nos Water Chestnut (Peeled and halved crosswise)
2 nos Star Anise
2 sticks Cinnamon or Cassia
3 nos Dried Chillies
Light Soya Sauce, Salt and Sugar to taste
a few lengths of Spring Onion to garnish
2 nos Fresh Red Chillies to garnish

Method:

1. Plunge the pork belly into a wok of boiling water and simmer for 3-4 minutes until partially cooked.  Remove and, when cool enough to handle, cut into bite-sized chunks.

2. Heat the oil and sugar in a wok over a gentle fire until the sugar melts, then raise the heat and stir until the melted sugar turns a rich caramel brown.  Add the pork, the water chestnuts and splash in the Shaoxing wine.

3. Add just enough water to cover the pork, along with the ginger, star anise, dried chillies and cinnamon sticks.  Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 45-60 minutes.

4. Towards the end of the cooking time, turn up the heat to reduce the sauce (if necessary), and season with light soya sauce, salt and a little sugar to taste.  Add the spring onions and fresh red chillies just before serving.

5. Finally, pour everything into a deep bowl, and decorate with the spring onions and fresh red chillies.

ENJOY…!!!

There are a couple of versions of the story of how this dish was created and became popular, but all versions of the stories tend to have “Old Pockmarked Mother Chen” as the lead star, or creator of the dish.

There are many versions of this popular dish to be found worldwide, and locally here in Singapore.  Unfortunately, many of these versions are not in any way close to the original, except the common ingredients of tofu, minced meat, and some sort of sauce in different levels of spiciness.

Here is the Ma Po Dou Fu recipe that I use.  It is lightly adapted from ‘the real thing’, as taught at the Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine in Chengdu, China.

Ma Po Dou Fu (麻婆豆腐)

Ma Po Dou Fu (麻婆豆腐)

Ingredients:

500g beancurd (soft is better, if not use silken)
4 baby leeks or 2 leeks
30ml peanut oil
100g ground beef
11/2 tbsp Sichuan chilli broad bean paste (dou ban jiang)
1 tbsp fermented black beans (or fermented black bean paste)
1 tbsp Sichuan chilli paste (up to 1 tbsp more if you want it more fiery)
100ml chicken stock
1 tsp sugar
dash of light soya sauce (may be omitted)
salt to taste (may be omitted)
cornstarch or potato starch mixed with cold water for thickening (I prefer potato starch)
1/2 tsp roasted Sichuan pepper (hua jiao)
1 stalk spring onion

Method:

1. Cut beancurd into 1-inch cubes and steep in salted hot water. Cut leek into thin slices. Cut spring onion into fine slivers.

2. Season wok, add peanut oil and heat over a high flame until smoking. Add minced beef and stir-fry until crispy and a little brown, but not yet dry.

3. Remove the minced beef and put on paper towel to absorb oil.

4. Turn the heat down to medium, add the chilli bean paste and stir-fry for about a minute, until the oil is a rich red colour. Add the fermented black beans and chilli paste and stir-fry for another 30 seconds until the mixture is
fragrant and the oil is nice and red.

5. Add the drained beancurd and stock. Mix in gently by pushing the back of your ladle or wok scoop from the centre of the wok – do not stir or the beancurd will break up. Season with sugar, a dash of light soy sauce and salt to taste. Simmer for about 5 minutes until the beancurd has absorbed the flavours of the sauce.

6. Add the leek and half the minced beef and gently mix in. When the leek is just cooked, add the cornstarch (or potato starch) mixture in two or three stages, mixing well, until the sauce has thickened enough to cling glossily to the meat and beancurd.

7. Finally, pour everything into a deep bowl, scatter with the remaining ground beef, Sichuan pepper and fine slivers of spring onions.

PS: This recipe can be adapted for vegetarian use by omitting the ground beef and chicken stock.

ENJOY…!!!