Meat

Brief Introduction of Dried Meat

The dried beef and mutton are distinctive Tibetan foods. In the end of every year, when the temperature is under zero, Tibetans will cut beef and mutton into pieces and hang them in the shadow to dry them. In February or March of next year, the meat can be eaten. The dried meat is very crisp, with special taste and inexhaustible aftertaste.

You can eat beef and mutton everywhere in Tibet, which is dried raw meat. In fact, weather in Tibet is very dry, so the meat is dried very quickly and it will not appear too hard to chow. In this sense, raw meat is more purity than rare meat, and more easy to chow. To cut a slight piece of meat by Tibetan knife, you will found the fat meat is as white as snow while the lean meat is too red to bright.

The Favorite and Not Favorite Meat in Tibet

Tibetans like eating meat, especially yak meat and sheep meat. They don't like eating goat's meat for them thinking the goat's meat will harm kidney. There is an idiom said that "goat's meat can't be presented on the table". The most hated thing of Tibetans is dog meat, it is very serious that say somebody is the person who eat dog meat. The elders commonly will not eat fish which is related with the religious belief. Furthermore, fish often regarded as the embodiment of dragon or water god. Tibetans often kill livestock in winter when the ox and sheep is strong which is benefit to cool them in cold winter. The main way to kill livestock is to stifle them for leaving the blood in the body. Before killing sheep, first tie up the four legs, then use short knife directly pierce into the heart.

Ways to Have Meat

There are several ways to have meat: eat raw meat, dry the meat, fry, sauté and boil. With a raw meat, people will take out a sharp knife, choose the most delicious part to cut and use the knife to put meat into mouth. People who always eat raw meat is skillful, they eat it with relish and rhythm. A large meat will be quickly eaten up with the skeleton left. Although eating raw meat is decreasing, eating dried meat is very popular. The climate in Tibetan is very cold, so the meat will not bad after many years. There are two ways to keep dried meat: one is to keep it in whole which is named "xiekao" in Tibetan language, means the whole meat; the other one is to cut the meat into pieces, hanging in the snow wind to dry them. The most famous dried meat is in the bank of Yamzhog Yumco Lake. The butter of it is clean and soft; eat with chili and salt flour. You will not forget the taste all your life once you eat it.

Way to Make Dried Meat

First, use salt to souse the meat for a day; then add some other flavoring into it and souse for one day; at last, put it into the room to dry it by wind or bake.