Hmong cuisine
Prior to the 21st century, Hmong lived mostly in self-sustaining agricultural villages where they raised livestock and grew crops.
[6] Hmong cuisine is influenced by frequent ancient and modern migration, including through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Japan, South Korea, and even the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Argentina.
You'll know where we been and it will show the trajectory to where we’re going.Scholars such as Alison Hope Alkon and Kat Vang, writing in The Immigrant-Food Nexus: Borders, Labor, and Identity in North America (2020), call Hmong cuisine translocal: a cuisine rooted in multiple localities and highly informed by ethnic culture and history regardless of state definitions of citizenship.
A condiment made with Thai chilis, cilantro, green onion, salt, monosodium glutamate, fish sauce, and lime juice that is served at most meals, and especially to accompany Hmong sausage.
[18] Each family has their own recipe, but typically the rolls consist of eggs mixed with shredded carrots and cabbage, ground pork, onions, scallions, and cilantro.
[21][22] Nab vam (pronounced as Nah-vah) is a traditional Hmong drink that is occasionally served during special events.
Naab vaam is a sweetened dessert drink that consists of coconut, tapioca pearls, cendol, and many other toppings that are mixed in.
In Hmong culture, it is essential to have toppings such as colored chestnuts, gelatin, sweet fruit, and grass jelly.
[citation needed] There are various names and spellings such as khaub piaj and ko pia or kopia.
Hmong cultivation of endangered plants for food was found to indirectly support their conservation.
[26][29] Hmong Americans tend to grow herbs in small pots and plots at home so they are close at hand for harvesting fresh and cooking quickly.
Chicken is core to Hmong cuisine and additionally serves ritual purposes and features in traditional embroidery.
[38][29][39] Hunting, fishing, and foraging meat remain a significant supplement to livestock, even for Hmong diaspora in the United States.
A study of Hmong households in Wisconsin recorded that 60% regularly hunted and fished, which was twice the rate of the general population.
[5] These Hmong adapted their own Southeast Asian cuisine to the realities of refugee camps in Thailand and poverty in the United States.
[13] Hmong households in Minnesota were found to have the highest frequency of family meals and adolescent involvement in food preparation, versus other ethnic groups.
A Thanksgiving meal might look like rice, Hmong sausage, and boiled chicken alongside the traditional American turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy.
[48] Yia Vang runs a popular restaurant called Union Hmong Kitchen in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
