flipShyakpa, Sherpa Potato and Dried Yak Stew
Shyakpa, Sherpa Potato and Dried Yak Stew
Why this dish? When an expedition returned safely, or for major village festivals, a pot of shyakpa was simmered. For Ang Tsering, finding this thick stew after weeks of biscuits and canned goods was to rediscover the taste of the Khumbu and home.
A rustic and comforting stew: Khumbu potatoes, rehydrated dried yak meat, and hand-pulled dough flakes simmered long in a broth flavored with garlic and ginger.
The day the men come down from the glacier, we bring out the big black pot. We cut the potatoes, throw in the yak meat that we dried in the winter wind, and let it sing over the dung fire for a long, long time. We pull the dough by hand, drop it in shreds into the broth. When the bowl steams between your frozen palms, believe me, you forget the cold of the mountain.
- •Khumbu potatoes — a full basket (stew base)
- •Dried yak meat — a few pieces (protein, umami)
- •Wheat flour — as needed (dough flakes/noodles)
- •Garlic and ginger — a portion (aromatics)
- •Yak butter — a knob (fat)
- •Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Shyakpa, Sherpa Potato and Dried Yak Stew
A rustic and comforting stew: Khumbu potatoes, rehydrated dried yak meat, and hand-pulled dough flakes simmered long in a broth flavored with garlic and ginger.
Why this dish? When an expedition returned safely, or for major village festivals, a pot of shyakpa was simmered. For Ang Tsering, finding this thick stew after weeks of biscuits and canned goods was to rediscover the taste of the Khumbu and home.
The day the men come down from the glacier, we bring out the big black pot. We cut the potatoes, throw in the yak meat that we dried in the winter wind, and let it sing over the dung fire for a long, long time. We pull the dough by hand, drop it in shreds into the broth. When the bowl steams between your frozen palms, believe me, you forget the cold of the mountain.
Ingredients (period version)
- Khumbu potatoes — a full basket (stew base)
- Dried yak meat — a few pieces (protein, umami)
- Wheat flour — as needed (dough flakes/noodles)
- Garlic and ginger — a portion (aromatics)
- Yak butter — a knob (fat)
- Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Waxy potatoes — 600 g (base)
- Dried beef or dried yak meat (or stewing beef) — 200 g (protein, umami)
- Wheat flour — 150 g (dough for flakes)
- Water — 75 ml + 1 L broth (dough and broth)
- Garlic cloves — 3 (aromatic)
- Fresh ginger — 1 piece, 3 cm (aromatic)
- Butter — 20 g (fat)
- Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Method
- If the meat is dried, rehydrate it in warm water for 30 minutes, then cut into strips.
- Sauté chopped garlic and ginger in butter at the bottom of a pot.
- Add the meat, brown it, then pour in 1 L of water and bring to a simmer.
- Knead flour and water into a firm dough; let rest 10 minutes.
- Add the potatoes in large chunks and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Pull the dough by hand into thin shreds and drop them into the broth; cook another 8 to 10 minutes.
- Salt and serve very hot in large bowls.
How it was made : Shyakpa is the Sherpa gathering dish. Yak meat, dried in the dry cold of the Himalayan winter, could be stored for months and was rehydrated in the broth. Potatoes, introduced to the Khumbu in the 19th century, were already an absolute pillar of the local diet by the 20th century.
The contemporary twist : Finish the bowl with a dash of Sichuan chili oil and chopped spring onions to wake up the broth.
Ang Tsering · Charactorium
