Local Hmong cooking.

One of the things that sets the Twin Cities apart is its large population of Hmong; there are many thousands living in Minnesota, and our metro area has one of the highest concentrations in the U. S. 

Not to reduce a culture entirely to its cuisine -- I don't know about you, but I don't feel that I understand people nearly as well if I don't know much about what they eat.  :-)  There are not, as far as I know, a plethora of Hmong restaurants around!  So I was glad to see this article in the local food blog Heavy Table about the Hmong home kitchen.  

In a building at the back [of the International Market Place in St. Paul], vendors sell produce such as greens, herbs, lemongrass, lychees, and longans, year-round. This time of year, the outdoor produce vendors sell seedlings for Hmong herbs. “Hmong people do a lot of gardening,” says Kasouaher. “It’s ingrained to grow your own stuff. Use what you can, then give the rest to family.”

 Sweeping her hand over orderly rows of potted seedlings, $2 each, Hang says, ‘These are all chicken herbs,” referring to a recipe that I’d inquired about, “Fresh Chicken with Hmong Herbs (Soup for New Mothers)” in Scripter and Yang’s “Cooking from the Heart.” According to the book, “Hmong custom dictates that, for one month after a baby is born, a mother’s diet consist of only this chicken soup, freshly cooked rice, and the warm water drained from the second soaking of rice (kua ntxhai) or clear, warm water.” Kasouaher says that in Laos it could be a big sacrifice for a family to feed a new mother the chicken soup for a month. “It’s a great sign of respect for her daughter-in-law, for a mother-in-law to make the chicken soup for her,” she says. “It is a time for a husband to show how he cares for his wife by making the chicken soup, often reserving for her the best parts of the chicken.”

Says Hang, “You don’t have to have a child to have the chicken.” You can eat the soup anytime. (We’ll include the “Fresh Chicken with Hmong Herbs (Soup for New Mothers)” recipe in Friday’s review of “Cooking from the Heart”).

In the cookbook, the authors describe how many chicken herbs, which can’t be found in the typical American grocery store, ”originated from seeds and starts carefully brought to the United States from Laos in the handbags and pockets of Hmong women striving to preserve their healthy cooking traditions.”

Some cool pictures at the link, including some gorgeous food photos.  Apparently there is a new cookbook out, to be reviewed at HT on Friday.