🍽️ Dried Yak Meat

Plateau air-dried beef, salty and tough.

Dried Yak Meat is a traditional preserved meat of Yushu and other pastoral areas on the Qinghai plateau. Yak meat is cut into strips and naturally air-dried, or lightly smoke-cured. At Yushu's high, dry, cold altitude the meat dehydrates in the open air, turning dark brown, firm and deeply savoury; the longer you chew, the more meaty aroma it releases. High in protein and long-keeping, it was carried by herders on long rides and drives. It is torn into strips by hand, enjoyed with butter tea or as a drinking snack — chewy, salty and lingering. It is also a representative souvenir visitors bring back from the Qinghai plateau, carrying the rough flavour of the high-altitude grasslands.