A Brief History:
The Kingdom of Bhutan is a small Asian country in the Himalayas sandwiched between India and China.
Bhutan lies claim to the world’s tallest unclimbed mountain, as well as beautiful and diverse landscapes.
It is also one of the few countries in the world that was never colonized by Europe, and was recently ranked the most peaceful country in South Asia.
The Dish
Gondo Datshi:
The first thing you will learn about Bhutanese cuisine is datshi, which is their word for cheese. They LOVE goat cheese! Nearly every dish I researched had goat cheese as the main ingredient, and I’m here for it.
Which brings us to gondo datshi: egg and cheese. It’s literally scrambled eggs with cheese, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
The best part about the egg dish is that you probably already have all the ingredients in your house. It’s just butter, garlic, goat cheese, and chili flakes.
Another main staple of Bhutanese food is red rice. Now, I’ve heard of white rice, brown rice, wild rice, and I’ve even seen yellow rice, but I was completely unfamiliar with red rice. Apparently, red rice is a special strain that only grows in the higher elevations in the Himalayas. It has a higher fiber and iron content than other strains of rice. Luckily, I was able to find this at my local Asian store, but it can also be ordered online. I simply measured out a portion and followed the package instructions.
Since things are going to go pretty quickly once everything hits the pan, I cracked the eggs into a bowl so I could add them simultaneously. I also portioned out how much cheese I wanted to add and crumbled it onto a plate.
I got out my trusty cast-iron skillet and set it on a low heat. I added about 2 tablespoons of butter and let that melt. Then I added about 2 cloves of minced garlic and let that saute for about a minute. DO NOT BURN YOUR GARLIC!
Once the garlic made my kitchen smell amazing, I added the eggs and beat them like they slid into my husband’s DMs. Once the eggs are almost done but still runny, I added the cheese and chili flakes and folded those in while the eggs finished cooking. After that, it’s time to plate up.
I happened to have some spinach that was looking at me forlornly, so I sautéed some just for giggles.
The result was a delicious, savoury meal that can be enjoyed any time of day. The goat cheese gave a nice tang to the eggs, and the spice of the chili flakes was perfection. The red rice had an almost nutty flavor, and I’m eager to try more recipes with it.
Overall, I give this a 10/10 and will definitely make this again.
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Serves
1
Ingredients
- 2-3 eggs
- 1-2 cloves garlic
- 2 Tbls butter
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste
- 1 oz goat cheese, or to taste
- red rice, cooked
Steps
1
Prepare rice according to package instructions
2
While the rice cooks, melt butter in a pan over low heat.
3
Once the butter is melted, add minced garlic and stir just until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
4
Add eggs and scramble, then add cheese and pepper flakes and continue stirring until done.
5
Grab yourself a plate and enjoy!