LHASA — In less than 10 minutes, tasty noodles are prepared and then served to those gathering at the dining table of Tashi's family. Such a quick meal was unlikely in the past in Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region.

"Thanks to the pressure cooker, we now have a lot more food choices and need much shorter cooking time," says Tashi, 56, from Maldrogungkar county in the regional capital, Lhasa.

On the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which has an average altitude of over 4,000 meters, it is difficult to boil food due to the low air pressure and boiling point.

Tashi recalls that when he was young, most of the kitchenware used by his family was made of clay, including the cooking pot and the steamer. The rest was made of wood or stone.

"The noodles and rice often turned out underdone back then," he says.

Thanks to the improvement in people's living conditions in Tibet in recent years, fuel for stoves evolved from wood to gas, and pressure cookers became a household necessity.

"Now we have various modern tools in the kitchen, and cooking is much more convenient," Tashi says.

In a newly opened factory in Lhasa, workers are busy assembling various kinds of cookware tailored for conditions in plateau areas.

"I am looking forward to the new type of electric kettles, and will buy one for my family," says Dawa Drolma, 23, who is one of the workers assembling the cookware.

In Lhasa, the boiling point of water is about 85 C, says Cai Shuailong, general manager of the company which owns the factory.

"With the newly developed kettles, the boiling water can reach 100 C, and therefore, it will help prevent hydatid disease, which is common among herders and farmers in pastoral areas," says Cai.

The company has developed 14 multifunctional cookware products suitable for plateau areas and applied for 18 patents, according to Cai.

Yeshe Tenzin, a researcher of culture at Tibet University, says: "Cookware is part of cuisine culture, and the change of cookware on the plateau mirrors the improvement of life in Tibet."

Xinhua