When it was published in 2009, Cooking from the Heart was the first English-language cookbook of Hmong recipes and culinary traditions. Fifteen years later, there’s a new edition. Focusing on the Hmong American experience, it features traditional recipes alongside narratives and stories from Hmong people about their journeys through China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. The new edition was compiled and written by Sheng Yang and Sami Scripter.
Mai Her explains a plant’s healing qualities to Sami Scripter. Very little information exists in English about the dozens of plants that Hmong people grow. Photo courtesy of the University of Minnesota Press.
The Hmong community didn’t have a written language until the 1950s, says Scripter, which meant recreating recipes was challenging. Traditionally one table is set for everyone and every dish offered should be within reach of anyone.
Yang seasons her stir fry with pumpkin vines with Mrs. Dash and substitutes carrots in her green papaya salad.
See Taub Ntoos Qaub
Sheng’s Green Papaya Salad
Serves 6
This salad, a Hmong favorite, can be made with green papaya or shredded carrots. Sheng prepared it with carrots the day she came to live with the Scripters in 1980. For non-Hmong people, the combination of flavors is definitely an acquired taste. Sheng always includes MSG in papaya salad, although it can be omitted. Shrimp and crab paste have strong fishy flavors, and although they are essential to Hmong papaya salad, a non-Hmong may want to taste some before including the full amount called for in this recipe. A recipe for papaya salad to serve at a large gathering appears on page 239.
Ingredients
- 4 cups shredded green papaya or 4 medium-sized carrots
- 2 to 4 cloves garlic (depending upon your taste—some people like it very garlicky)
- 1 to 3 hot Thai chili peppers (depending upon desired heat)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1⁄2 tablespoon shrimp paste (optional)
- 1⁄2 tablespoon crab paste (optional)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon MSG (optional)
- Juice and some of the pulp of 1 lime
- 6 cherry tomatoes
- 3 cups shredded cabbage (optional)
Instructions
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Some Asian markets sell shredded green papaya, or you can shred it yourself after peeling, using a special tool (pictured on page 239; also available in Asian markets). If preparing this dish with carrots, scrub them well and cut off the top ends.
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Peel them into long, thin strips with a vegetable peeler and set them aside. Remove the papery skin from the garlic cloves and put the cloves into a large mortar.
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Remove the stem ends of the chilies and add the chilies to the garlic. With a pestle, pound the garlic and chilies until they are mushy.
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Next, add the green papaya or carrot strips, fish sauce, shrimp and crab paste (if desired), sugar, and MSG (if desired). Squeeze the lime juice into the mixture, discarding the seeds. Use a spoon to scrape some of the lime pulp into the salad. Pound together a minute or two, turning the mixture over with a spoon.
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Continue until the flavors are extracted and mixed, but the papaya strips or carrots still retain their shape.
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Cut the cherry tomatoes in quarters, and mix them into the salad. Put 1⁄2 cup of the cabbage on each of 6 individual salad plates and top with the salad mixture.
Excerpted from “Cooking from the Heart: The Hmong Kitchen in America” by Sami Scripter and Sheng Yang. Published by the University of Minnesota, 2009. Paperback edition published 2023. Copyright 2009 by Sami Scripter and Cheng Yang.
“Cooking From the Heart” receives a refresh after 15 years. Photo courtesy of University of Minnesota Press.
