Bhutan day 3

Because I kept telling the guide that I wanted local food (not dishes for tourists), he took me to a local noodle restaurant. It's located in a hidden corner of the building. It looked very "local"!! The restaurant specializes in momo (a popular dumpling, which is usually known better as a food from Nepal) and handmade soup noodles. The style of handmade noodle reminds me of the Western Chinese cuisine, such as Uyghur foods. Basically Bhutan is a rice-country and wheat flour is not as popular as a starch. Probably it originated from the western part of China via Tibet.

The sign to the restaurant

Inside the restaurant

Both steamed and fried momo with spicy sauce, which was spicier than one I had at a Nepalese restaurant in the US.

Their specialty soup noodle. I chose beef topping. The soup is the same no matter what topping you choose.


Bhutan is a Buddhist country. While most nations are not vegetarian, Bhutan doesn't even kill animals. The guide told me that all the animals for food are slaughtered in India and exported to Bhutan. Do Indians kill cows? The guide was guessing probably Muslims in India do the job. Very strange arrangement....

Tonight, I'm participating in a "farm stay". It's an inn run by a family. So, it's a kind of home-stay. It's located north of Paro (between Paro and Tiger's Nest). Like many other families in Bhutan, they have small farms for veggie, eggs and milk. 

I was welcomed with suja (butter tea) and milk tea (chai without any spices). Teas are usually served with roasted rice and roasted and pressed corn. Both are not very puffy but rather tough. Bhutanese are not into sweets so everything is only lightly sweetened.  

This farm-stay includes a cooking class taught by the mother of the family. I requested that I want to learn their national dish, ema datsi. Despite the great flavor of ema datsi, there was no secret. Simply cook fresh chili (it can be dried chili), onion (shallot) and tomato (optional) with two kinds of cheeses (cow and yak) in vegetable oil and water. The only seasoning is salt. The cow cheese is a little closer to feta in terms of texture. But there's no salt and it has a hint of tanginess. The yak cheese seems like a harder version of mozzarella (not the fresh mozzarella in water). I wasn't sure what cheese I can substitute to make ema datsi once I get back to the US. The guide said I can use Amul cheese from India to replace the Bhutanese cheese.  

The dinner included 4 dishes served with red rice and lettuce grown at their farm. The red rice is only slightly red. 

Tomorrow is the highlight of the trip, Tiger's Nest.