Bhutanese cuisine is often portrayed as being bad, because, well it really is not very good. One saving grace though and seemingly the only local food they trust with foreigners is Chilly Cheese.
Said dish is exactly what it sounds like, I mean it is chilly doused in cheese, but there is not just a unique Bhutanese way of doing it, but also a number of decent variations.
What the Bhutanese cuisine?
I will keep my expo on Bhutanese cuisine short and sweet as I have previously written about the subject, which you can read about here. The overall skinny though is that it is not just rather boring, but essentially it is about being functional, rather than tasty. Fair enough to a degree when you are that far up the mountains.
Meals in Bhutan tend to be centred around red rice, dried meat, some pickled vegetables and a lot of potatoes. You’ll get basic broths and some dried pork, with a heavy reliance on dairy, mainly cheese. It is not a cuisine that is varied, and to be fair, it is not trying to be. They cook to survive and that’s what makes something like Chilly Cheese so surprising. It is creamy, it is spicy and it is something they genuinely eat every day. Of all the foods you get while in Bhutan, it is by far the best.
Click to read about Street Food in North Korea.
What the Chilly Cheese?
Chilly Cheese or Ema Datshi (ཨེ་མ་དར་ཚིལ་) is the national dish of Bhutan and while it sounds simple, it is oddly addictive. It is made using large green chillies that are sliced and then stewed in a sauce of local cheese, garlic and often onions. The cheese is a soft crumbly type made from cow or yak milk, and melts into something almost like a fondue.
The chillies are not mild. This is not some peppery nonsense for tourists, this is a hot dish served with red rice and eaten like a curry. The name itself says everything. Ema means chilli. Datshi means cheese. It is the one thing you will get at every meal, and one of the few things worth asking for seconds of.
According to the locals it is comfort food. In fact, a Bhutanese meal without Ema Datshi is not considered complete. You eat it at breakfast, lunch and dinner. The rest of the country may be dry, cold and a bit dull, but Ema Datshi is the dish that fights back.
Variations of Bhutanese Chilly Cheese
There are, of course, a number of variations of the classic Chilly Cheese and most of them are pretty decent. All follow the same base formula of cheese plus a key ingredient and all of them are available if you ask the right kitchen.
• Kewa Datshi (ཀེ་ཝ་དར་ཚིལ་) – Made with potatoes and cheese, this is probably the mildest and most filling version
• Shamu Datshi (ཤ་མུ་དར་ཚིལ་) – Cheese and local mushrooms, earthy and really good during mushroom season
• Shakam Datshi (ཤ་ཁམ་དར་ཚིལ་) – Dried beef added into the cheese and chilli, meaty and rich
• Bukhum Datshi (བུ་ཁུམ་དར་ཚིལ་) – Made with fern shoots or bitter greens, slightly tangy and different
• Mixed Veg Datshi (སྦྱིན་རིགས་དར་ཚིལ་) – A full mix of vegetables plus cheese, usually whatever is left in the kitchen
• Plain Datshi (དར་ཚིལ་) – Just cheese, sometimes served as a side or for people who can’t handle the heat
Chilly Cheese Recipe
OK, so while I am not all that hot on Bhutanese cuisine I legit like Chilly Cheese enough to have a crack at making it myself. With that in mind I’ve been given the following solid Bhutanese Chilly Cheese Recipe.
You will need:
• 5 large green chillies
• 1 cup of water
• Half an onion sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 cup of soft cheese or yak cheese if you can find it
• Salt to taste
How to make it:
- Wash and slice the chillies lengthwise
- In a small pan, bring water to a boil and add the chillies, onion, garlic and butter
- Let it boil gently for about 10 minutes until the chillies soften
- Add the cheese and reduce heat
- Simmer until the cheese melts fully and mixes into a sauce
- Stir gently, season with salt and serve with hot red rice
And that is it. Some people add tomato, others a bit of mushroom or potato, but this is the classic and probably the best way to get started. Yes, it will burn your mouth a little, but it is worth it.
In conclusion
Well you could not exactly say that the Bhutanese have changed the world, or will ever change it with its cuisine. BUT much like the British with their breakfasts these guys have at least one culinary invention to be proud of and that is not just chilly cheese, but also just putting a lot of cheese on stuff.
Will you get bored of Chilly Cheese in Bhutan? Probably, but in fairness you would have most likely already bored of the Kingdom itself by this point.