Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Phaksha Paa
Fatty pork strips braised Bhutan-style with whole dried red chilies and sweet white radish into a fiery, glossy stew.
Bhutanese · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 45 min
~374 cal · 32g protein · 9g carbs · 23g fat · 2g fiber · 4g sugars · 7g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Phaksha paa is one of Bhutan most widely loved meat dishes: strips of fatty pork rendered and with whole dried red chilies and chunks of white radish until the sauce is rich and glossy. The name joins phaksha, pork, with paa, a cooked dish, and it ranks beside ema datshi as a defining plate of the Bhutanese kitchen.
The interplay of unctuous pork, searing chili heat and the mild sweetness of radish is the whole point, especially in the cold months when the fat gives warmth. It is served with Bhutan red rice, often alongside a spoonful of ema datshi.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, nut- and egg-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
1 lb pork belly, sliced into strips
6 dried red chilies
1 large daikon radish, sliced
1 onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch ginger, grated
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups water
to taste salt
to garnish cilantro
Instructions
1
Render the pork strips in the oil over medium heat until some fat melts out and the meat starts to brown, about 8 minutes.
2
Add the onion, garlic and ginger and saute until softened and fragrant.
3
Stir in the dried chilies, radish and turmeric and season with salt.
4
Pour in the water, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on low for 30 to 40 minutes until the radish is tender and the pork is glazed.
✎ Chef’s note
Keep the sauce moderately reduced, saucy but not soupy, so it clings to the pork.
5
Adjust the salt, scatter with cilantro, and serve hot with red rice.
Bhutanese home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Thimphu. Red rice is the grain at this altitude, a short husked grain that cooks softer and stickier than white and tints the whole plate. Butter tea, churned with salt instead of sugar, works as a hot drink and a broth at the same time, and dried meat hangs through the winter because nothing is growing.
🗺️
Bhutan. Datshi means the cheese, a soft fresh cow or yak cheese that melts into a sauce rather than stringing, and the chillies come in three states: green and fresh in season, sun-dried red for the rest of the year, and dried white after boiling. They are treated as the vegetable in the dish, not the seasoning on it.
🌍
Asia. A grain line runs across the continent. Rice dominates the wet south and east, wheat the drier north and west, and the tools follow it: the wok and the steamer where rice is milled, the tandoor and the griddle where wheat is ground. Tea travels the other way, drunk green, black, salted, buttered or with milk depending how far it got from China.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Bhutan
Ema DatshiBhutan’s national dish: green chilies stewed as the vegetable, not the seasoning, in a silky cheese sauce.
Khur-leRustic buckwheat pancakes from the Bhutanese highlands, eaten with chili-cheese ezay.
Jasha MarooA soupy, spicy minced-chicken stew with tomato, ginger, and coriander, a warming everyday Bhutanese dish.
Browse all Bhutan recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
Make it a Bhutan meal
Suja (Butter Tea)Drink
KhabzeyDessert
Jasha MarooLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Phaksha Paa?
Fatty pork strips braised Bhutan-style with whole dried red chilies and sweet white radish into a fiery, glossy stew.
Where does Phaksha Paa come from?
Phaksha Paa is a Bhutanese dish from Thimphu, Bhutan.
Can Phaksha Paa be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Phaksha Paa recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Phaksha Paa safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Phaksha Paa take to make?
About 60 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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