The Bhutanese Love Red Hot Chili Peppers

In Bhutan they are considered a vegetable. Not a spice. (And I’m not talking about the band.) Which to me is crazy. I mean after one bite, one tiny bite, it was too much for me. Way too hot and way too spicy. I quickly grabbed a glass of water, and tried to calm my mouth-that-was-on-fire. Of course I knew this would happen, because my mouth is quite sensitive to eating hot and spicy foods. But I had to try this vegetable anyway. Because after all I was in Bhutan, where chilies are a must ingredient for the Bhutanese palate.

Chilies in Bhutan are called “Ema.” They are eaten by the fork-full (or spoon-full, I suppose) by the Bhutanese. And without the need for a quick glass of water just after one bite! Ema are introduced very early in life, even to toddlers, because not only are chilies a big part of Bhutanese cuisine, they are also a big part of Bhutanese culture, tradition, and life. It is possible that Ema might have become this way because the Bhutanese live in a cold climate, in the Himalayas, and when people eat hot food, such as chili, it warms them up.

Growing chilies is practically a year-long process. Sometime before February and March, when chili seeds are sown into the fertile soil, the chili fields are first irrigated with water to make plowing easier. The chili fields are actually plowed twice so that the soil becomes very fertile, and good fruits (chilies) will be grown.

Once chili saplings grow to a certain height, they are transplanted to another field, and proper spacing is placed between the saplings. This occurs mostly during the months of April, May, June, and sometimes July. While transplanting the chili saplings water is given continuously until the saplings grow bigger, and become strong and mature. Within two months the saplings will then bloom flowers and the fruits (chilies), which start out being green, but eventually change color to red.

Chilies are harvested once they turn a flaming red color during the months of September and October. At this point the chilies need to be dried for about a month to prevent them from getting spoiled. They are dried outdoors. In the sun. In the fresh air. If you are in Bhutan at this time, you can see chilies drying practically everywhere. On rooftops. (Yes, rooftops.) Hanging out of windows. Lying out on the ground. It is like the country is decorated with displays of red roses; only they are really displays of red chilies.

I watched this woman spread out chilies on the rooftop of her barn.

Chilies actually come in several varieties and colors, such as red, green, and white. Red chilies are called Ema Mab. Green chilies can be turned into white chilies by simmering them in water for a half hour. These are called Ema Shukam. And smaller chilies that did not grow as well are cut into two to three pieces vertically, and called Ema Hongkom.

Ema Datse (the dish where after one bite I needed that quick glass of water) is one of the three national dishes of Bhutan. The main ingredients of this dish are well, red chilies, and cheese (Datse), onions, tomato, and salt. (The other two national dishes are made without chilies, red rice and butter tea (su ja).)

Many, many other dishes in Bhutan also contain chilies. In fact I bought a Bhutanese cookbook, and in flipping through the pages, 24 of the 27 recipes (yes, almost all of them) call for some variation of chilies…and I quote…red chilies, green chilies, dried chilies, fresh chilies, dry green chilies, dried red chilies, fresh green chilies, large green chilies, red chili pieces, chili powder, chili paste, 4-5 chilies (dried or fresh), dried chilies or half teaspoon of chili powder… or just chilies.

Ema are even eaten whole and raw dipped into salt by the Bhutanese! Wow!!

Did you know that chilies have some nutritional value, as they include vitamins B6, A, and C, as well as magnesium, potassium, iron, and dietary fiber? No wonder Ema are considered a vegetable in Bhutan.

As you can see red hot chili peppers are definitely loved by the Bhutanese and are a big part of their life.

But have no fear. If you are like me, very sensitive to eating hot and spicy foods, the Bhutanese make for the travelers many, many excellent dishes, without any chilies.

Sweet (and hot and spicy) Travels!

Some information about chilies, especially the growing process and the names of the varieties, was graciously provided to me by one of my Bhutanese guides, Pema Wangchuk, and also by his Grandmother. Thank you both!!

Other sources:

Bhutan’s Love Affair with Chilies, BBC News

Ema: The Fiery Bhutanese Food, Kuensel Online

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About 1500 times a day, one by one, and all by hand, a wooden frame with a bamboo screen filter is dipped into a vat of pulp and starch mixture, is swished around to allow a thin layer of the mixture to spread out evenly over the screen, and is transferred to a table where the screen is carefully removed to result in a single sheet of Bhutanese paper.

A very important part of Bhutanese culture and tradition is handmade paper making. Historically paper has been made to provide Buddhist monasteries with paper for woodblock and manuscript books, and for writing prayers and mantras. Today handmade paper making continues to preserve and promote this age-old tradition, as well as to create many other products, such as stationery and greeting cards.

I watched the paper making process at the Jungshi Handmade Paper Factory in the capital city of Thimphu. This factory was originally established by the Bhutanese government, and later was privatized under the sole proprietorship of Mr. Norbu Tenzin, who was trained in Japan “for high quality and designing of Bhutanese traditional handmade paper.” Throughout Bhutan there are a few other family-operated paper factories as well.

The word Jungshi means “natural.” Raw materials, supplied from bark from two trees, are used to make the paper. The Daphne Papyri grown at an attitude of 1500 feet and below produces a strong, dark paper. The Edgeworthia Papyri found at higher altitudes of 3000 feet and above, produces a whiter, more fragile paper. Nature provides other flora as ingredients, like flowers, leaves, and fern leaves, which make decorations on the paper. Paper making is done without any environmental harm to the land, and without the use of chemicals.

The entire process to produce one sheet of paper actually takes three days. The dipping and swishing is just part of it. The process begins with pulling bark off the trees, and soaking strips of bark in water for 24 hours.

The bark is then boiled and washed, and further cleaned, separating good, fine fibers from bad fibers. The fibers are crushed and pounded by a machine into a wood pulp, and then mixed by hand in a vat, with water and a vegetable starch made from the Hibiscus plant root.

A wooden frame with a bamboo screen filter, approximately two feet by three feet in size, is dipped into the vat of the pulp and starch mixture, and is swished around to allow a thin layer of the mixture to spread out evenly over the screen.

Carefully the screen, now covered with a thin layer of the mixture, is removed from the wooden frame.

The screen is carried from the vat…

…to a table where a stack of paper has already been started.

The screen is laid on top of the stack, and then carefully removed, leaving a new sheet of paper on top of previously made sheets of paper.

This process is repeated over and over again, as many as 1500 times a day, by hand, creating a stack of paper, one sheet at a time.

A whole stack of paper is then compressed to squeeze out any extra water. Each sheet of paper is taken off the stack, one by one, and is hung to dry on smooth vertical easel-type boards. Other paper factories in Bhutan dry the screens out in the sun.

Once dry, which I think takes another 24 hours, each piece of paper is brushed clean.

Finally, there is a sorting process of taking the best handmade paper and using that for products, and recycling the rejected paper.

Paper and paper products include writing paper of different sizes and colors, photo albums, stationary, journals, greeting cards, envelopes, calendars, scrolls, wrapping paper, paper bags, and much more. Greeting cards and scrolls may be decorated with flowers, hearts, and important Bhutanese symbols and places, such as the fable of the Four Friends, the Tiger’s Nest Monastery, black-necked cranes, and Buddhist representations.

Paper products can be purchased at the Jungshi Handmade Paper Factory itself, or in many shops in Thimphu and other areas of Bhutan, and make great gifts.

The quality of the paper isn’t what we are used to using for printing and copying at all. The Bhutanese paper has a very natural (jungshi), smooth feel to it, much like the bark, fibers, and pulp that it is made from.

Sweet (and handmade) Travels!

Information provided from the Jungshi Handmade Paper Factory’s brochure, by one of my Bhutanese guides, Pema Wangchuk, and from a few websites, Fao Forestry Department, National Women’s Association of Bhutan, and Indian Gifts & Handicrafts.

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They wear their long black hair topped with conical-shaped hats. Their clothes are made out of yak wool. They wear jewelry made of items such as silver and turquoise on their backs.

They are the unique, beautiful women of Laya, Bhutan.

In the remote Himalayan village of Laya at over 12,500 feet in northwestern Bhutan, the women have worn their unique style of dress for centuries. Along with the Layap’s distinctive language and customs, this style of dress reflects culture, tradition, religion, and history.

It is believed that a very important figure in Bhutanese history and religion, Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, first entered Bhutan in Laya. Shabdrung was a Tibetan Buddhist lama who unified Bhutan, and is the great leader of the Drukpa school of Mahayana Buddhism, which is followed in Bhutan. One of my Bhutanese guides told me that the style of dress that the women of Laya wear shows that “they follow Shabdrung.”

The conical-shaped hats are made of darkened bamboo strips that are woven together. I asked another one of my Bhutanese guides the significance of these conical-shaped hats, and he replied that, “If they fail to wear the hats they believe they will upset the village spirits.”

The hats are adorned with a pointed spike at the top, and colorful beadwork in the back consisting of about 30 or more strands of white, red, orange, and blue beads. I asked if there was significance to the pointed spike at the top, and one of my Bhutanese guides replied, “Regarding the pointed stick at the top, there is no such reason as per my knowledge. It simply shows that it is a unique hat to Laya.”

This Laya woman is selling the conical-shaped hats.

The yak wool clothes include a jacket (called khenja) that is black with silver trim, and a long black ankle-lenght skirt (called the zoom) which contains earth-toned vertical stripes of brown, orange, rust, and mustard. One of my guides told me that the clothes are made of yak wool to “help with the extreme weather and the long trade missions” of the Layap.

These Layap women were working hard, breaking up the ground in order to clear an area of a field so that animals won’t cross into the crops. All the while they were wearing their traditional clothing. (Although the hats were kept safely off to the side.)

During my visit to the scenic village of Laya, it was quite amazing to see all the beautiful women wearing their unique clothing. Unlike fashion of today that goes in and out of style every few years, the women of Laya respect their culture, tradition, religion, and history over the centuries.

Sweet Travels!

Some of the information in this blog was provided to me by two of my Bhutanese guides, Tobgay. And Pema Wangchuk. Thanks to you both!

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