At the table
Eat the set yogurt with a spoon. Taste its natural sourness first, then add sugar if offered and desired.
Contains milk, including when made with yak milk. Check any added toppings if you have food allergies.
Cow milk or yak milk may be used. Sweetness and the surface milk skin vary; some street-style versions include a few drops of vegetable oil around the bowl rim.
GET TO KNOW THE DISH
What goes into it?
Explore some key ingredients below. Preparations may use additional seasonings and ingredients.
Milk is fermented with a yogurt starter.
Typical ingredients
In some versions
Recipes vary by restaurant.
How does it taste?
Sour fermented-milk flavor.
- Chili heat
- Texture
- Soft curd, similar to tender tofu.
- How it’s made
- Heat milk, cool to fermentation temperature and inoculate with a little existing yogurt.
Milk is fermented with a yogurt starter.
A CONNECTION TO PLACE
Origin & regional roots
Associated with Qinghai.
Ask if they have it first
请问你们有青海酸奶吗？
Do you have this item?
A LITTLE SOMETHING TO READ
Story & history
The spoonable yogurt bowl of Xining
A familiar Xining style is firm set yogurt, closer to soft tofu than to pourable supermarket yogurt. Street vendors often serve it loose in small white porcelain bowls, with a thin golden sheen over the white curd. Break the delicate top with a spoon and scoop the set yogurt underneath. This is a local way of serving yogurt in Xining, not a fixed description of every yogurt made in Qinghai.