大学共同利用機関法人 人間文化研究機構　国立民族学博物館

Butter tea maker

• HI 11132
• Tibetans, Tibet Autonomous Region

This is a churn used to make Tibetan butter tea. They are traditionally made of wood, though some are made of plastic these days. To make this tea, you should break a handful of tealeaf bricks called chapaka, and decoct them in a large pan for about an hour. Then you add a large paddle-full of yak butter from a dhi ‘female yak’, and a large spoon-full of salt, churning the mixture in the cylinder. Although the churning rod is effectively designed with a slit valve at the lower end, pumping the rod up and down dozens of times requires great energy.

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