flipPo cha, Salted Butter Tea
Po cha, Salted Butter Tea
Why this dish? Alexandra recounts drinking countless bowls of this churned butter tea throughout her clandestine march to Lhasa: it was at once her drink, her soup, and her internal heating against the cold of the passes.
A strong black tea, long churned with butter and salt until it forms a frothy, creamy, and salty emulsion. Far from sweet Western tea, it is almost a broth: you drink ten, fifteen bowls a day to withstand the cold and altitude.
Do not pull a face, I beg you! I hated this brew on the first day, like any self-respecting European, and then the cold of the passes taught me to love it. One beats the black tea with butter and a pinch of salt in a long wooden churn until it froths like a soup. Believe a traveler: at minus twenty degrees, a steaming bowl of this fatty tea restores your soul better than any French wine. I drank hundreds of cups on the road to Lhasa, and I assure you there is no better friend on the High Plateau.
- •Compressed black tea (Yunnan brick tea) — one large broken piece (bitter and tannic base)
- •Yak butter (often slightly rancid) — a good knob per bowl (fat, creaminess)
- •Rock salt — a pinch (seasoning)
- •Boiled spring water — as needed (infusion)
Po cha, Salted Butter Tea
A strong black tea, long churned with butter and salt until it forms a frothy, creamy, and salty emulsion. Far from sweet Western tea, it is almost a broth: you drink ten, fifteen bowls a day to withstand the cold and altitude.
Why this dish? Alexandra recounts drinking countless bowls of this churned butter tea throughout her clandestine march to Lhasa: it was at once her drink, her soup, and her internal heating against the cold of the passes.
Do not pull a face, I beg you! I hated this brew on the first day, like any self-respecting European, and then the cold of the passes taught me to love it. One beats the black tea with butter and a pinch of salt in a long wooden churn until it froths like a soup. Believe a traveler: at minus twenty degrees, a steaming bowl of this fatty tea restores your soul better than any French wine. I drank hundreds of cups on the road to Lhasa, and I assure you there is no better friend on the High Plateau.
Ingredients (period version)
- Compressed black tea (Yunnan brick tea) — one large broken piece (bitter and tannic base)
- Yak butter (often slightly rancid) — a good knob per bowl (fat, creaminess)
- Rock salt — a pinch (seasoning)
- Boiled spring water — as needed (infusion)
Ingredients
- Strong black tea (Yunnan or Assam) — 4 tsp for 500 ml (base)
- Salted butter — 30 g (creaminess)
- Salt — 1 small pinch (seasoning)
- Whole milk or cream — 3 tbsp (roundness (substitute for yak butter))
- Water — 500 ml (infusion)
Method
- Bring water to a boil and steep the black tea for 5 minutes to obtain a very strong, almost black tea.
- Strain the hot tea and pour it into a blender with the butter, salt, and milk.
- Blend on high speed for 30 to 60 seconds until smooth and frothy (the blender replaces the dongmo churn).
- Serve immediately in small bowls, very hot, and refill as you go: a bowl is never left empty among Tibetans.
How it was made : Tea was churned in a long wooden cylinder, the dongmo, using a piston. The compressed tea brick also served as currency on Himalayan trade routes. The butter, often kept for weeks, developed a sour taste that Tibetan palates appreciated.
The contemporary twist : Served in a small cup as a "bulletproof tea" before a hike: coffee-with-butter enthusiasts will rediscover here the Himalayan ancestor of their drink.
Sources : Alexandra David-Néel, Voyage d'une Parisienne à Lhassa, Plon, 1927 · Alexandra David-Néel, Mystiques et magiciens du Tibet, Plon, 1929
Alexandra David-Néel · Charactorium
