Bhutanese Cuisine

Before going to Bhutan, I had no clue what Bhutanese food was. I automatically assumed it would be similar to Nepali cuisine. But eating my first Bhutanese meal in Thimphu, I found out I was quite wrong. I had a chance to try dried yak cheese to complex chili sauces made with over thirty ingredients and spices. Here are my favourite picks from all the cuisines:

1. Ema datshi

The most famous Bhutanese food of them all: ema datshi, which is chilies and cheese. You’ll eat ema datshi not only everyday when you’re in Bhutan, but likely for just about every meal when you’re in Bhutan. The chilies, which can be either fresh green chilies or dry red chilies, are sliced lengthwise, and cooked with datshi, which is local Bhutanese cheese, and plenty of butter for good measure.

2. Kewa datshi

Kewa is potato, so kewa datshi is potatoes and Bhutanese cheese. The potatoes are typically sliced into thin pieces, then sauté down with cheese and lots of butter.

3. Red Butter Rice
Red, light-red, dark-red or light-pink-red will be the color of your rice. It takes longer to cook than white rice but less time than brown rice. It is cooked with butter and served with any datshi of your choice.

4. Suja
Suja or Butter tea is a staple drink of the people in Bhutan. Traditionally, Suja is made from tea leaves, water, salt and yak butter.