Butter tea
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Butter tea, also known as po cha (Tibetan: བོད་ཇ་; Wylie: bod ja, "Tibetan tea"), cha süma (Tibetan: ཇ་སྲུབ་མ་; Wylie: ja srub ma, "churned tea") , 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 of tea leaves, yak butter, and salt.
Drinking butter tea is an 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. Since butter is the main ingredient, butter tea is a very warming drink, providing lots of energy (calories) and is, therefore, a good antidote to the cold, so it is especially suited to high altitudes.
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.
Preparation of butter tea begins with plain green or black tea. (This may be freshly brewed, or made by diluting a concentrate with boiling water. 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: མདོང་མོ་; Wylie: mdong mo), and churned vigorously before serving hot.
[edit] References
- Waddell, L. Austine. 1895. Tibetan Buddhism: With Its Mystic Cults, Symbolism and Mythology, and in Its Relation to Indian Buddhism. W. H. Allen & Co., London. Reprint 1972: Dover Publications, New York. ISBN 0-486-20130-9. For a good description of how tea was served in monasteries, see pp. 191-192; 214-217 (with illustration).
[edit] External links
- [1] a recipe to make Tibetan buttered tea Po Cha
