- Coming up for all you food rangers,
we're traveling through western Sichuan
in search of local Tibetan street food.
We found some amazing meals
you're not gonna wanna miss.
Starting out right here in Kangding
with a bowl of yak-meat noodles,
and then making our way for a seven-hour drive
to one of the highest towns in the world.
We found some delicious, local Tibetan cooking along the way
and also got into the back of a local kitchen.
And then later on had a Tibetan feast for dinner.
Let's check it out.
Alright, to check it out guys, it's Trevor James.
We're in Kangding, west Sichuan now.
Today, we're going
to one of the highest cities in the world, Litang,
4,000 meters up,
all in search of delicious local street food.
Let's check it out.
(upbeat music)
First up, before beginning our journey into the mountains
and the highlands into Litang, we had to start out
by getting a huge bowl of delicious ma gue mien,
an amazing Sichuan-style pork gravy noodles
with extra added yak meat.
When you walk up in the cold weather and see the steam
coming from noodle joints like this,
you get so excited to try them out.
We're going deep for noodles!
Wow, look at that!
So that is a pork gravy that goes over top of the noodles.
Wow, that just looks amazing!
You can smell that pork essence.
Okay, We just got the ma gu mien.
Take a look here, this is incredibly aromatic, guys.
Nice big chunks of beef
with that zha jiang mixed pork gravy over top.
This is the dry version and on the bottom,
let's take a look at the bottom.
Oh, wow! That smells so good!
There is chile oil and garlic and ginger on the bottom.
Oh yeah, there it is, look at that.
Look at that!
That is so aromatic.
These beef chunks, I actually just asked the front.
They're actually mao niu,
so that is yak meat.
Yak meat noodles, awesome!
This is like gloopy, sloppy,
meaty, gravy heaven.
They give you a bit of cabbage,
boiled cabbage in there as well.
Oh, that is so steamy and satisfying.
(slurping)
Mm!
Wow!
It's like a pork gravy.
You really taste that sloppy pork gravy goodness
with a slight spice,
and there's nice chunks of beef in there.
Wow, that is a...
that is sloppy noodle delight.
After those life-changing noodles,
our hostel recommended a local Tibetan driver
to take us the seven-hour drive to Litang.
He took us to one of his local friend's places
for lunch along the way.
But before that,
we encountered some incredibly beautiful scenery
and had some difficulty breathing as well.
Alright, so now we're on the (speaks in foreign language)
which is the national highway
that goes from Shanghai all the way to Lhasa.
Today we're going to Litang, 4,000 meters up.
And we're gonna stop for lunch
in a little village along the way.
And this is absolutely stunning.
We're going over peaks and valleys and
passes that are incredibly beautiful.
I can't wait to see what we can find today.
So we just stopped.
I think we're a third of the way to Litang.
We're at the top of an overpass.
This is about 4,000 meters up.
I'm already a little out of breath.
We're gonna take a little hike up
and check out the view.
Look at these beautiful prayer flags.
This is the first of three passes today.
It's absolutely stunning.
There's these clouds rolling in.
There's prayer flags everywhere,
and we're gonna continue the journey
and hopefully find some local Tibetan food.
This is amazing.
As you continue along the 318,
the roads get super windy,
and you go higher and higher.
Passing through incredible scenery
and local villages
that make you want to stop and hang around in.
But we were on a mission to get to Litang.
So we had a quick stop in one of the villages
for a local lunch,
and it's more incredible yak meat.
We just rolled up.
We're gonna have a local Tibetan lunch here.
This is beautiful.
Let's go see what we can eat.
We're gonna get some prime yak meat.
- We're gonna get, oh!
We're gonna get the best yak meat.
Okay, we're gonna get the clear flavor.
We had three specialty dishes.
The first was the pure flavor yak meat pressure-cooked
with a little bit of chile and Sichuan peppercorn.
The next was an amazing fried yak meat
with pickled chilies.
So we're also getting a pao jiao mao niu
which is sliced yak meat
with pickled chilies, stir-fried.
- Raw yak meat!
Our driver, Gwe-leh, just had some.
So, look at that, raw yak meat.
Dip it in a little la jiao.
We're going in for raw yak meat, okay!
Mm!
- Oh, yeah.
It's like a super strong beef actually.
It's a more gamey beef.
Oh, dipped in the chili, not bad.
And we're just gonna cook that up
with a little bit of pickled chili.
Wow, all that pickled chile with the yak meat.
Oh, that just smells so good, yak meat.
Oh, he's just throwing a little MSG
and chicken essence in there.
Oh, the pickled chilies.
Oh, the pickled chilies and the ginger.
There goes a little starch.
Whoa!
There it is.
Oh, there it is guys,
yak meat with pickled chilies, ginger, and garlic.
Wow!
That is incredible.
So that's what it's all about guys.
This mao niu,
this is pao jiao mao niu,
that we just ordered here,
and that is pickled chilies with ginger and garlic
and apparently if you eat that in the high altitudes,
it helps with your altitude sickness.
It gives you strength of course.
The third dish was a nice stir-fried
fresh water spinach.
This here was a true local
Sichuan-style Tibetan lunch.
This is really what it's all about guys,
coming into back kitchens,
chatting with the chefs,
and tasting new flavors.
Look at this guys.
Look at this guys, local Tibetan feast for lunch,
so beautiful with our driver, Gwe-leh.
- Yeah, lots of yak meat.
- Looks good.
So we have yak meat boiled in a pressure cooker
with chilies and Sichuan peppercorns and radish.
And then we have yak meat
with pickled chilies, garlic, and ginger.
And then we also have some kong xin cai
fried water spinach.
But honestly, what I'm looking forward to most here,
is this.
Wow, look at that fried yak meat.
Oh, and they're bringing a little bit of cilantro.
Yak meat.
Yak meat with pickled chili.
Mm!
Wow!
Mm!
Mao niu is like a stronger beef.
It's a bit gamey, so flavorful.
And then we've got this big chunks of mao niu.
Look at that.
with radish, chili, and peppercorn.
Mm!
Oh!
Mm! It's a little chewy but
still juicy at the same time.
Mm!
- The best yak meat right here.
This is honestly a very energetic, powerful
strong meal for this elevation.
All of that yak meat just, it's bit chewy.
I gotta be honest,
but it is definitely flavorful,
and there is a bit of a juicy explosion in there as well
combined with those pickled chilies and yak meat.
Oh, it's heaven.
We're gonna make our way, continue on the road.
- Awesome.
- We're making our way to Litang,
one of the highest cities in the world,
higher than Lhasa.
On this road, you'll wanna stop
and take photos at nearly every corner,
but we had to get to Litang to eat dinner,
so we just stopped once and kept moving.
We have a bit of a hold up here.
Mao niu, delicious! (laughs).
Look at this guys,
we're in the highlands now,
and all of this, is Tibetan highland barley,
and this is what's used to make the
(speaks in foreign language), which you mix together
with the (speaks in foreign language) yak butter,
and you can that tsampa we had the other night.
And you can also see
there's some yaks in the back there.
This is really fun, exploring around.
We arrived to Litang super late at night
both with pounding headaches from the elevation,
so we went for a quick Tibetan dinner,
and then went back to our hotel which supplied oxygen
and had a rest.
Alright, so we just got in to Litang.
It's been a long day.
Both of us have really bad headaches right now,
but we're just gonna stop in for some Tibetan food
before we head back to the hotel.
Wow, look at this guys.
We have a Tibetan feast here today.
We have yak curry over rice.
Oh, this is really what I'm looking forward to trying.
This is made with a curry powder.
I asked them in the back kitchen.
Oh, nice tender chunks of yak.
There's a bit of Sichuan chili and potato in there.
And then look over here guys.
We have big fatty plump
fried beef momos.
Then we've got over here.
Look at this.
Oh yeah, nice and slurp-worthy
yak noodle soup.
This honestly looks like a combination
between Sichuan and Tibetan cuisine,
full of chili oil, full of that rich, rich chili broth,
nice slices of yak.
Oh, I mixed them all up, but they're in there.
And than we have (speaks in foreign language) mao niu
hand grasped yak meat.
This looks similar
to what we had for lunch today.
What I really want to try first here is the curry yak.
That looks incredible.
We're gonna make this quick
because we both have headaches.
Ting is tired, I'm tired
from that long journey.
Mm, this looks incredible.
Mm!
Oh, oh, it's actually quite salty.
The yak meat is very tender.
It has a curry powder.
You ever have yellow curry powder,
it tastes exactly like that,
a bit salty but still really really enjoyable.
The best thing here
was definitely the fried beef momos.
Super fatty and had an onion kick
and a super delicious chili sauce.
This has just been an amazing day,
so many friendly local people,
lots of delicious food.
We're gonna have to take this back to the hotel.
I would love to hear your comments down below.
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Thanks so much guys!