Bhutanese cuisine
Bhutanese cuisine (Dzongkha: འབྲུག་ཟས་; Wylie: "brug-zas") employs much red rice (like brown rice in texture, but with a nutty taste, the only variety of rice that grows at high altitudes), buckwheat, and increasingly maize. Regional cuisines. Buckwheat is eaten mainly in Bumthang, maize in the Eastern districts, and rice elsewhere. The diet in the hills also includes chicken, yak meat, dried beef, pork, pork fat, and lamb. Soups and stews of meat, rice, ferns, lentils, and dried vegetables, spiced with chili peppers and cheese, are a favorite meal during the cold seasons. "Zow shungo" is a rice  dish mixed with leftover vegetables. "Ema datshi" is a spicy dish made with large, green chili peppers in a cheesy sauce (similar to chili con queso), which might be called the national dish for its ubiquity and the pride that Bhutanese have for it. Other foods include "jasha maru" (a chicken dish), "phaksha paa" (dried pork cooked with chili peppers, spices, and vegetables, including turnips, greens, or radishes), "thukpa", "puta" (buckwheat noodles), "bathup", and fried rice. Snacks. Popular snacks include "momo" (Bhutanese dumplings), "shakam eezay", "khabzey" (dried fritters made with flour, water, and sugar, which are then deep-fried), "shabalay , juma" (Bhutanese sausages marinated in spices), and noodles. Foreign influences. Restaurants in the country can serve Chinese, Nepalese, Tibetan and Indian foods, which are very popular and in recent years Korean restaurants have opened due to the increasing popularity of Korean popular culture in the country. Dairy and beverages. Dairy foods, particularly butter and cheese from yaks and cows, are also popular, and indeed almost all milk is turned into butter and cheese. Cheese made from cow's milk called "datshi" is never eaten raw, but used to make sauces. "Zoedoe" is another type of cheese made in the Eastern  districts, which is added to soups. Zoedoe is normally greenish in color and has a strong smell. Other types of cheese include Western types like Cheddar and Gouda. Western cheese is made in the Swiss Cheese Factory in Bumthang or imported from India. Popular beverages include butter tea prepared using tea leaves, salt and butter (called "suja"), milk tea (called "ngaja"), black tea, locally brewed "ara" (rice wine), and beer. Spices include curry, cardamom, ginger, "thingay" (Sichuan pepper), garlic, turmeric, and caraway. Etiquette. When offered food, one says "meshu meshu", covering one's mouth with the hands in refusal according  to Bhutanese manners, and then gives in on the second or third offer.