Posted on 05/10/2009 6:09:35 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
No wonder Hmong cookbooks are rare, considering the challenges Sheng Yang and Sami Scripter faced collecting recipes:
• Written forms of the language were not used until the 1950s -- and even now, spelling varies.
• Recipes have been passed down through generations without the use of measuring cups and spoons.
• Cooks varied each dish according to what was in season or available when an animal was slaughtered.
• A people without a country and a population forced to flee their lands, the Hmong incorporated methods and ingredients of other cultures, so what is considered Hmong food has evolved.
• Individuality is prized, so one cook's hot chili condiment differs greatly from another's and may be a guarded secret. Still, the two women collected 11 variations of the ubiquitous condiment for their recently published cookbook.
"Cooking from the Heart: The Hmong Kitchen in America," (University of Minnesota Press, $29.95), reflects the collaboration of Scripter, who calls herself "white as a sheet" and descended from "Midwestern farm folk," and Sheng Yang, whose early childhood memories in Laos include watching her mother cut up cassava roots and plantains for a favorite sweet treat. That was before her father fought on the American side during the Vietnam War, fled with his family to a Thai refugee camp after the Americans left and, when Sheng was 9 years old, brought the family to the United States.
The Hmong girl met the Irish-German woman in Portland, Ore., where Scripter was among those welcoming a sudden influx of Hmong to the community.
"Sheng often will say that the important thing is that we preserve the culture," said Scripter during a phone interview.
(Sheng, who now lives in Sacramento, Calif., was not available.) "It's very important to feel connected not only to your ancestors but to future generations."
To that end, Scripter and Sheng collected not only recipes but poetry, anecdotes and stories, such as May Lee-Yang's "The Year My Family Decided Not to Have Papaya Salad and Egg Rolls at Thanksgiving," which concludes, "I longed for connections, not to a place or a feeling, but to people. And so that same year, I returned home."
The partners in preservation compiled 100-plus recipes from Hmong-American kitchens and triple-tested most to verify measurements. Because Hmong breakfast, lunch and dinner foods are the same, the recipe section is broken down into rice, vegetables and herbs, chicken, eggs, pork, beef and water buffalo, fish and game, and beverages and dessert, with traditional recipes noted. A section devoted to cooking for a crowd is important for traditional gatherings, such as funerals lasting for three or more days, celebrations for weddings and the New Year, and rituals such as calling in the soul of a new baby, healing, and recognizing achievement.
Among Scripter's favorite recipes are the stuffed chicken wings she calls a "gift of love to make"; stuffed bitter melon; the hot chili condiment; and a chicken version of a meat salad called larb, a Laotian word pronounced "la."
Explaining how Hmong cooking differs from other Asian cooking, Mai Zong Vue, co-owner of the Madison-based Taste of Asia catering business, said, "As Hmong relocate and move around, our cooking has been influenced by the new environment like any other people. In comparison, Hmong cooking is closest to the traditional Vietnamese and northern China region."
She added, "Basic Hmong cooking consists of steaming, grilling (on charcoal), stew, jerking style (beef and pork), ground cooking, stir fry and boiling. This means Hmong cuisine is simple but tasty and healthy."
Scripter talked about the use of lemongrass, cilantro, mint, green onions, hot chilies and a wide array of vegetables in Hmong cooking, and the techniques, such as boiling and steaming and the now common stir-frying and broiling of meat to serve with the main dish of rice.
While often made today with an electric rice cooker, the "Everyday Rice" in the cookbook requires an aluminum hourglass-shaped Thai cooker and bamboo steaming basket and a five-step process: washing, soaking, steaming, soaking a second time and steaming again.
Besides the rice main dish, typical meals include lots of a green vegetable, smaller amounts of meat, lemongrass broth and the hot chili condiment, but not dairy products or desserts.
"It's a Hmong custom to make sure that everybody has plenty to eat," Scripter explained. "You don't save room for desserts."
When made for special occasions, dessert usually contains tapioca pearls or sticky sweet rice.
"Rice is almost a euphemism for being Hmong," said Scripter, whose book notes that the Hmong phrase "Peb noj mov" means "Let's eat," but the literal translation is, "Let's eat rice."
A Thai rice cooker and bamboo basket is commonly used in Hmong cooking, which can include, from left, regular (such as Calrose) or jasmine rice for daily use, purple rice for celebrations and sticky rice, which can be used in desserts or rolled into little balls to eat as a snack or with a meal.
Stir-fried baby bok choy is flavored with pork belly in this dish; loin roast with some fat on it can be used for a more Western flavor.
Thanks Diana, interesting.
Yes, thanks for posting. We have members of our church who live with the Hmong people and share such wonderful stories. It’s a nice culture.
An Asian woman taught me how to make sticky rice out of white rice. Which it is not technically sticky rice, but my kids love it because they like lumpy rice.
Cook white rice regular, then right when all the water is almost cooked out, add a cup of COLD water. The starch causes it to swell up and become ‘sticky’.
sticky rice? what’s that? It’s called ticky lie.
Do you start with long grain rice (not minute rice, right?)
I grew up around families who made a living from the ocean, bay and marshes, it is hard to do now.
Right, long grain rice, cooked with a 1/2 ratio (one cup rice to two cups water)
I spent about a year in the Ban Vinai refugee camp in Thailand (1979/80). It became THE Hmong camp. I wonder if I might have interviewed her family for resettlement?
For those interested, real sticky rice is generally available at Asian grocery stores. My secret is the special rice cooker I brought from northeast Thailand... married her over 30 years ago. :)
The more Chilis in that papaya salad, the better!
Ping
Be wary of some of the Lao foods.
Some of the sauces are, well...medicinal in nature...
The version I had, ground the fish like hamburg. It was very tender and delicate.
A friend recently taught me how to make spanish rice - you take a little oil and get the pan hot. Pour in your long grain rice and stir while it browns just a bit, maybe 3 or 4 minutes. Then put in chopped onion and some garlic if you like, bell pepper, - really anything but keep stirring - then you add any seasonings you want (lots of cumin for one thing) then put in water or a combo of water and spicy V8 juice - enough to cover the rice and then you can turn down the heat a bit and cover.
I didn’t know to kind of stir fry the hard rice first. I’ve adapted this to a lot of things - added cooked chopped meats - made it more of a fried rice flavor than spanish rice too.
You can buy sticky rice from Asian grocery stores. It tastes better than the regular long grain rice. This kind of rice is very sticky and can be used as desert if you use coconut milk as the water, with a little bit of sugar included. Better eaten with slices of mangoes.
I love green papaya salad. I used to work with a Vietnamese gal who left after the war. I always hounded her for recipes because she always brought in fantastic lunches for herself, and I love Asian food. Green papaya salad was one of them. It is yummy.
The stuff is literally addictive!
It takes maybe 15 minutes to make this dish and it is very good.
So THAT’S how it’s done! I’ve always wondered. :)
“My secret is the special rice cooker I brought from northeast Thailand... married her over 30 years ago. :)”
LOL! Yeah, right. She rules the roost, no doubt, LOL! :)
Those are interesting! I once had a boyfriend who made THE best egg rolls. I know, a very different culture than Hmong, but I’m never quite sure WHAT I’m ‘craving’ when I’m craving egg rolls, LOL!
(I did end up marrying a Chef, though.)
That meal is a staple in this house. It’s great for using up leftovers and still feeling like a ‘fresh’ meal. :)
As Dave Ramsey says, “Beans and rice. Rice and beans!” ;)
Try them both! They are outstanding.
Mmmmm. Larb. Good stuff.
Larb or Laab
Thanks for the PING, My!
Great thread!
So, hmow does Hmong taste, anyway?
"For Sunday dinner I like to have Dinki-Di hash with a nice little red wine."
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