奶渣 (nǎizhā) · dried milk curd (Tibetan/Mongolian dairy product)

Meanings

1 dried milk curd (Tibetan/Mongolian dairy product)
2 milk residue left after extracting butter

About the ingredient

Curds from the buttermilk left when butter is churned from yak or cow's milk, eaten soft and fresh or dried into hard, sour lumps. Tibetans drop it into butter tea and fill buns and pastries with it.

Contains milk

Characters

Examples

HSK 5

奶渣又硬又酸，需要慢慢含在嘴里。

Nǎizhā yòu yìng yòu suān, xūyào mànmàn hán zài zuǐlǐ.

Milk curd is hard and tangy - you have to slowly hold it in your mouth.

HSK 7-9

藏族牧民把奶渣晒干后保存。

Zàngzú mùmín bǎ nǎizhā shàigān hòu bǎocún.

Tibetan herders dry milk curd in the sun to preserve it.

Tips

culture

奶渣 (Tibetan chura) is what remains after churning butter from yak or cow milk. The solids are pressed and sun-dried into rock-hard pieces that keep for months - essential winter protein on the plateau. Also appears in Tibetan pastries like 奶渣饼 and sweet sprinkles.