If you could only eat one animal for the rest of your life, what would it be? While I've always been quick to pick the pork, a recent trip to Yunnan has forced me to reconsider my stance.

For all the lush and varied scenery of Yunnan, the province's menus are dominated by the flesh of one animal: Yak. By far the most common meat available in Yunnan, mao niurou (pronounced mao nyew-row) is extremely chewy, and has a slightly more gamey taste than the classic cow's beef. But that doesn't mean it's not tasty and delicious.

When prepared properly, mao niurou is succulent and juicy. It's a versatile meat, and, due to the area's abundance of Yak, local chefs often experiment with it, occasionally coming up with interesting new creations.

This certainly isn't the first time Hungry Dan's had a run in with Yak, but my unfortunate experience at Shanghai's Friday Muslm Market has in no way dissuaded my culinary intrigue, so I immediately dive into some mao niurou gan (yak jerky).

Much like the standard beef jerky that's so popular around the world, yak jerky comes in a variety of flavors: wet, dry, spicy, salty, sweet, sesame and more.

Available on every street, the urge to constantly buy more and more is too tempting to pass up, so I try all the flavors, deciding that the sesame is tops.

Quick word of advice: don't go overboard on the mao niurou gan. As tasty as it is, it's a snack, not a meal unto itself.

Aside from the jerky, the other most common form of Yak consumption comes on a stick: the ever-so-popular mao niurou chuan or yak skewer.

Readily available all over the streets of Yunnan, in Shangri-La, Lijiang, Kunming and Dali, these chuan "retail" for RMB 1 -2 and are another great snack. Like the jerky, it should be eaten in moderation, but, when handled with care make for an excellent in-between-meal treat. A second tip is to search for a skewer with excess fat. Even if you don't like the fat, it will melt onto the yak meat during the cooking process and give the mao niurou additional flavor.

Feeling cold from the chilly mountain air, I decide to warm up with a nice cup of yak butter tea, or su you cha (pronounced soo yo cha).

A local staple, su you cha has a thick and creamy texture and is the perfect way to warm up on frigid day, or night. Most restaurants will offer a sweet and salty version (tiande and xiande); salty is the way the locals drink it.

Moving away from these traditional snacks, yak is also commonly used as an entree in Yunnan cooking.

After a long day of motorcycling through nearby Xiao Zhongdian, I head to the premier restaurant in Shangri-La's Old Town: Arro Khampa. Aside from the fact that the restaurant is warm, cozy and decorated in a comfortable, minimalist fashion, the food is killer. The yak hot pot (mao niurou huoguo) and stone-grilled yak are superlative. Unfortunately, due to a camera malfunction, photos are unavailable. Just take it from Your Hungriest that a return is imminent, the food is just that good.

In the mood for a little yak fusion, I proceed to So Ya La, a Tibetan diner also located in the Old Town. Word on the street is that So Ya La has an excellent mao niurou hanbao, or yak burger. I dart over to catch a bite.

The texture and flavor are tasty, and it's clear that yak meat has an ability to cross over into mainstream Western cuisine. The only drawback of this particular burger is that the yak to bun ratio is a little low and I'm left with a lot of dough and little meat (note: pictured burger is not from So Ya La).

Finally, to cap off this yak-a-thon, I mosey over to a local shop to purchase a bottle of mao niu suan nai (yak yoghurt) to wash down the burger. While I'm quite apprehensive to the thought of sour yak milk, I take a sip nonetheless. Surprisingly, there is no distinction in taste between this yak drink and standard yoghurt, and I down the whole bottle.

Whether or not I would choose to spend my remaining days exclusively consuming yak and its byproducts, I certainly see that it's do-able after examining many of the possibilities. And, for those of you that believe in using every part of the animal . . . well, you can probably make a most excellent throw rug out of the hide, fashion some excellent custom drum sticks from the ribs and sell the horns to your local rabbi as a backup shofar.

Note: Photo of yak butter tea courtesy of WeirdMeat.com