Nagqu Yak Meat 那曲牦牛肉

Nagqu Yak Meat (那曲牦牛肉) is the meat of yaks raised on the high grassland of Nagqu (那曲) in northern Tibet (藏北). A 2021 China Tibet Online feature on northern Tibetan yak culture says that because life on the high grassland needs a lot of energy and the area produces very little, people there have eaten yak meat for more than a thousand years. It describes the free-grazed meat as rich in amino acids and minerals and repeats its nickname, "the crown of beef cattle" (肉牛之冠).

How it is made

Air-dried yak meat is a food of the northern Tibetan grassland. The common traditional kind there is made with no seasoning at all, to keep the plain taste of the meat: at the end of November, when the plateau is already frozen, herders cut fresh yak meat into strips and hang it in a spot where the air moves, so that it freezes and dries naturally. After March of the following year the strips are taken down and eaten raw. Dried yak meat is also the main food herders carry on long seasonal moves and journeys. China Tibet News names yaks from Nagqu and Ngari (阿里) as the most suitable for air-dried meat, and the leaner hind leg as the better cut.

Ingredients

Nagqu yak is a local breed of the cold high plateau that grows slowly: Hangzhou News, reporting on Zhejiang's assistance partnership with Nagqu, gives a production cycle of generally more than six years, against about a year and a half for ordinary beef cattle. The China Tibet Online feature lists the Niangya (娘亚), Chawula (查吾拉) and Benta (本塔) breeds among Nagqu's fine livestock. CCTV, reporting from Nyewo township (尼屋乡) in Lhari County (嘉黎县), describes the Niangya yak as a local breed and a national geographical-indication product with fifteen pairs of ribs, one more than other yaks, and its meat as fragrant and firm.

How it is eaten

Besides fresh chilled meat, Nagqu yak is made into jerky, hand-torn shredded yak, salt-fried beef and yak-meat pastries. At a 2018 tasting in Hangzhou organised with the Nagqu agriculture and animal husbandry bureau, a hotel chef cooked it as clear-broth yak meat, Dongpo-style yak, salt-dipped beef and yak-meat dumplings.