Book of Days Tales

Today is the birthday (1868) of Alexandra David-Néel , first foreign woman explorer of Tibet. She was also a spiritualist, Buddhist, anarchist and writer. She is most known for her 1924 visit to Lhasa in Tibet at a time when it was forbidden to foreigners. David-Néel wrote over 30 books about Eastern religion, philosophy, and her travels. Her teachings influenced beat writers Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, philosopher Alan Watts, and esotericist Benjamin Creme.

Tsampa is the staple food of Tibet. It is made by dry frying barley grains then grinding them into flour. Butter tea and water are added to form a stiff dough which is then kneaded thoroughly until it can be pinched into pellets. Tsampa is easy to carry, suitable for the pasturing life. When Tibetans go out to tend herds they take a wooden bowl with a “tanggu” (a bag to carry Tsampa) strapped on their waists and a little tea. You can also add some meat and vegetables to tsampa and make it into a barley porridge called “tuba” in Tibetan.

Here is a recipe for thenthuk, a Tibetan noodle soup.. This soup is common in Tibet, and traditionally it is made with mutton or yak meat.  Thenthuk is only one kind of Tibetan noodle soup and its name means “pull-noodle” soup.

Ingredients

Noodles

1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup water, room temperature
¼ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper
1 tsp oil

Soup

2 or 3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp ginger, finely minced
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
1 carrot, chopped into thin strips
1 large tomato, roughly chopped
4 to 5 cups stock
2 green onions, chopped
cilantro, a few sprigs, roughly chopped
handful of spinach
soy sauce or salt to taste

Instructions

Dough

In a bowl, combine the dough ingredients, mix well and then knead for 4 minutes. Cover and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Roll or flatten out the dough and cut into long strips and then make the broth.

Soup Instructions

In a large pot on medium heat, sauté the garlic, ginger, and onion in oil for 1 minute. Add the carrots and tomato and gently sauté for another minute. Add most of the stock and bring to a boil. Adjust the amount of stock later depending on the soup to noodle ratio you prefer.

Add the noodles to the soup by draping the strips over your hand and tearing off pieces of about an inch in length, and then adding them to the boiling soup. Cook for 2 minutes until the noodles float and are cooked through. Add the chopped green onions, cilantro, and spinach and cook for about 30 seconds.

Season with soy sauce or salt. Serve immediately.