Cooking from the Heart: Reviews and Recipes

I just received my copy of Sheng Yang and Sami Scripter's Hmong cookbook, Cooking from the Heart, and it doesn't disappoint. I haven't read all of it yet, but I've enjoyed skipping around, looking at the recipes for some of my favorite foods (all of which make my mouth water). Besides being a joy to read (and a pratical cookbook), there is enough context to make it helpful resource for learning about Hmong cultural practices, both traditional and modern. The role of food in rituals is described as well as food practices associated with health and illness. It's also a book about the friendship between Yang and Scripter and the creativity of the individual cooks they worked with. Even the book itself is beautifully designed and well-organized.

There have been a number of positive reivews around the web, but one of the best is from The Heavy Table, a Twin Cities-based website. The review is broken up into two pages. In A Day in the Kitchen of a Hmong Family, the reviewer tags along with a Hmong family as they shop for the day and prepare a big dinner. Among other stops, they visit the International Hmong Market on Como, a sprawling, labyrinthine collection of stalls containing everything from karaoke to qeej (not to mention an amazing variety of food). While the book isn't the main focus here, the review does conclude with a recipe for papaya salad and another recipe based on the cooking of the Hmong family in the review. Of great interest to everyone, a video is included that demonstrates how to de-bone a chicken wing so it can be stuffed with eggroll filling and baked. (The one time I got to help out with this time consuming, but worthwhile task, we later deep-fried the wings in a giant vat of oil.)

The review of the book featured on the site is equally rich and detailed. It also includes two more recipes as well as links to other websites
.
Yang and Scripter were recently interviewed by Lynne Rossetto Kasper of The Splendid Table and their segment will be airing sometime in July. It's clear the book has already been a success and more great things are in store for the authors.

Pictured: My personal speciality, fawm kauv. By the way, blogger Mozemoua has several nice posts on Hmong cooking (which include much nicer pictures than the above).

Update: Wang Li and the Hmong of Yunnan

In a previous post, I discussed a song by Wang Li, a self described Hmoob Suav (Chinese Hmong), in which she sings about the interconnectedness of Hmong people all around the world. Several unanswered questions were posed along with an invitation for others to join in the conversation. Since then, the post was reposted on another (now defunct) blog where a commenter not only provided the complete lyrics (and a translation), but also some more background information on Wang herself. The complete comment, made by a poster known only as "May" follows:

Wang Li (Lig Vaj/Li Vang) is a Hmong person living in Paj Tawg Lag (Wenshan, Yunnan, China). She is a fairly newcomer to the Hmong music industry.

The complete lyrics to her song goes:

(1)
Koj noos kuv nyob qhov twg, kuv nyob Roob Kuj*
Zoo siab tias kuv yog ib tug ntxhais Hmoob Suav
Koj noos kuv nyob qhov twg, kuv nyob Roob Kuj
Txawm kuv mus txog qhov twg los kuv yeej nco nroov

(2)
Txawm tias koj nyob rau Miskais
Los yog koj nyob rau Fabkis
Txhob hnov qab peb yog Hmoob ib yam
Peb lub qub teb qub chaw* twb yog Roob Kuj

(3)
Vim tias peb yog Hmoob ib yam
Peb yuav tsum sib hlub sib pab
Txawm tias peb ib leeg nyob rau ib qhov
Tiamsis peb yuav tsum nco nroov peb Hmoob txoj kevcai

(4)
Txawm kuv mus txog qhov twg los kuv yeej nco nroov

*********

(1)
You ask me where do I live, I live in China
Happy because I am a Hmong Chinese girl
You ask me where do I live, I live in China
Regardless of where I go, I will always remember

(2)
Whether you live in America
Or if you live in France
Never forget, we Hmong are all one people
Our old homeland is China

(3)
Because we Hmong are all the same
We must love and help each other
Regardless of where you and I (We) live
We must remember our Hmong traditions

(4)
Regardless of where I go, I will always remember

Note: The term "Roob Kuj" is a transliteration of "Zhong Gua" and the phrase "qub teb qub chaw" literally translated means "old land, old place."

Other Hmong singers from China are Xiang Ding Xiu 项定秀 whose Hmong name is Mim Haam, Ying Yang and Xin Vang.

Thanks, May, wherever you are. Her response answers several of my questions. "Roob kuj" doesn't mean "mountain," as suggested in my (rather poor) translation. Instead, it's the Hmong pronunciation of the name for the country of China in the Mandarin language, Zhongguo. In this sense, the song is more than a call for Hmong people to remember their common heritage--to come together in a decentralized, transnational community. Rather, it reorganizes contemporary Hmong identity around the locus of the Chinese homeland. For many Hmong Americans, Laos (and perhaps to a lesser extent Thailand) still constitute the "homeland lost." At the same time, the ancestral Chinese homeland remains central to Hmong funeral rituals. As international travel and communication increases, the trend towards identifying China as homeland may increase (as noted in previous discussions of Hmong global identity).

From May, we also learn the location of the performance: Wenshan, China (Google map). The city of Wenshan is in the Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (prefecture being a division between province and county). In several such areas in China, ethnic minorities (or "nationalities" as they are called) are given more political authority at the regional and local levels, although approval from the national congress is necessary for most decisions. In Hmoob Dawb, Wenshan is called Paj Tawg Laj, and it has long been a center for Hmong culture and media production. For example, the video for Wang Li's appears to have been shot there. I don't know much about Paj Tawg Laj, but it is clear that the Hmong people there have been effective in promoting their culture abroad. The website www.hi-hmoob.com (when it was operational) featured several videos of local festivals and music performances (many of these are preserved on YouTube by user tsimmeejLi). If you read Chinese, you might be able to find more on www.3miao.net, but the site is painfully slow to load. Other YouTube users have uploaded karaoke and music videos produced by the Hmong of Wenshan, and others have uploaded videos they made themselves.

User bigboymedia has several videos of musical performances in China (along with an outstanding video of Gary Yia Lee discussing the various theories of Hmong origin. His conclusion, in line with linguistic, genetic, and historical evidence: the Hmong most likely originated in China). Here is one that provides short clips of several different performances, including kwv txhiaj, dancing, tshuab raj, and tshuab qeej.




The website Hmongfreedom.com, also features a video overview of Wenshan, which includes scenic views of the city and surrounding mountains as well as an interview with a resident who apparently explains why the city is called "Paj Tawg Laj." The interview ends with the gentleman performing on qeej, raj nplaim, and ncas.

These videos interest me for a number of reasons. As someone who has never traveled to the region, its great the see the continuation of cultural practices shared by Hmong around the world. Of course, Yunnan borders Vietnam and Laos, and communication has always been maintained between the Hmong who migrated to Southeast Asia and those who remained in China, so it isn't surprising to see the continuity of tradition. Still, I've wondered to what extent people play the raj in China, and based on these videos, it appears that the practice goes on (although, perhaps like here in the United States, it is kept up mainly by older men who learned it in their youth).

It's also clear from these videos that the language and culture of the people depicted is Hmong: not Hmu, or A Hmao, or another group of people. "Miao" media is often interpreted in the U.S. as "Hmong" media, even when other ethic groups within the Miao nationality are featured. As discussed in other posts, this is part of a trend (although not an irreversible one) towards conflating "Hmong" and "Miao" identity in the transnational context. It's a trend that creates problems for scholarship and intercultural communication. For instance, the cultural practices of non-Hmong groups in China can sometimes be seen as "strange" or even "incorrect" when viewed through this lens. Or, it is sometimes assumed that these "foreign" practices are older or the "original" forms of Hmong culture. There is an underlying complexity and diversity (which I think has value) that is lost in the equation of "Hmong" and "Miao." At the same time, a unified Hmong identity has benefits such as potential for economic development and historical awareness. It can also be a source of pride and provide a real sense of community between Hmong people in disparate locations who often have been politically marginalized. Certainly, the greatest benefit is the opening up of what used to seem like remote parts of the world so that everyone can gain from the experience of others and share in the ongoing conversation.

Hmong Voices oral history videos online

Videos are now online from Hmong Voices, a project by the Center for Multicultural Cooperation to collect and disseminate Hmong oral history. From the website:

Since 2004, a variety of partners have made it possible to develop the Hmong Voices Project, which brings together Hmong youth and elders to record oral histories and create digital stories documenting the history of the Secret War in Laos, the Thai refugee camps, immigration to the Central Valley, and integration into American life.

There are several episodes, only a few of which are available online at the moment. (I assume you can contact them to purchase hard copies of the video). I was able to view the DVD this fall and was impressed by scope the material. For example, one episode features an emotional interview with Gen. Vang Pao (hopefully to be included among the online videos soon.) In the meantime, you can view them at the CMC website, or find them via search at the Internet Archive. Episode 2 (embedded below) is a particularly effective narrative about the Secret War and its aftermath told in Hmong and English by people who experienced it firsthand:


Other episodes focus on the passage of California State Assembly Bill (AB) 78 (the impetus for the project) and individual oral histories of the Secret War. I am especially pleased to see the CMC take advantage of the Internet Archive for distribution of the videos, as opposed to YouTube (although, I notice that they also uploaded them to Google Video.) The Internet Archive is a non-profit, online library that allows for the free distribution of digital media without generating ad revenue for corporations. It supports embedding and multiple formats making it competitive with other online video services. (It's where I've placed my videos online--although, I've also tried out GV and YT). Of course, uploading to sites like Google Video and YouTube (which is now owned by Google) means more views and a wider audience--so perhaps is makes sense to utilize both: generating interest on the commercial sites and redirecting viewers to the non-commercial sources for the rest of the content. Both CMC and Hmong Voices are on MySpace, another great place way to reach a young and diverse audience (although it too is full of ads).

New developments on the Internet make digital distribution of rich media cheap and easy and it is exciting to see educators, researchers, filmmakers, artists, etc. take advantage of these new channels of communication. At the same time, we need to think hard about where our content goes and who benefits from it. Is free distribution worth supplying YouTube with free content and ad revenue? What is the security, dependability, and scalability of these resources? For instance, it appears that the Hmong Cultural Center has begun relying on YouTube alone for the online archiving and distribution of their excellent videos. Another problem with with resources is that they provide no standard way to organize the materials. There is no reference librarian to properly archive the content, and it's up to the users to provide meaningful organization (something lacking from the Hmong voices videos on the Internet Archive). These are issues that will hopefully correct themselves (e.g. social taxonomies) as people become more familiar with new Web interfaces and applications, but they should be addressed upfront in any planning for future projects.

In the meantime, here are some good old fashioned non-ad-supported collections of Hmong oral history online:

• The Hmong oral history project at Concordia University
  
• Hmong oral histories from the Hmong of Central Wisconsin
  

The real "Hmong Idol"

Yes, I know that "Hmong Idol" was over a year ago, but a recent YouTube clip got me thinking about it again. It's a Hmong dub version of "American Idol" featuring the talentless crowd-favorite, Sanjaya, singing the Lee Pao classic, "Ntuj no tuaj lawm." (I've written previously about this song and its myriad interpretations on YouTube, and I hope to write more soon.)



Of course, the real winner of the 2005 "Hmong Idol USA" contest was, Pagnia Xiong - a talented young singer whose performances can also be found on YouTube, including this classy rendition of "Plaub sab phab ntsa." (Brief interview of Xiong from Asian Wisconzine).



With it's wide vocal range and sustained phrase endings (providing ample opportunity for extensive R&B obbligati), "Ntuj no" actually wouldn't be a bad choice for an "American Idol" audition. A girl from Pagnia Xiong's hometown (Sarah Krueger of Eau Claire, WI) actually made it to Hollywood Week this year, and it doesn't seem improbable that someone like Pagnia couldn't make it there, too. Whoever it is, I just hope they're a Melinda, not a Sanjaya. (If Melinda doesn't win this season, there is no justice in the world.)

Wang Li and two-way transnationalism

[Update: a follow-up to this post with more information about the performer and the lyrics to the song is available.]

Wang Li is a self-described Chinese Hmong (Hmoob Suav) singer whose performances transcend boundaries of geography and culture in ways different from previously discussed artists like Song Zuying and Ayouduo identity in performance - appearing in traditional outfits, surrounded by icons of . In the media, Song tends to be represented as Chinese or else as Miao, and this comes across in her music (which of late has focused on classic Chinese pop songs). Ayouduo on the other hand capitalizes on her MiaoMiao culture, singing lyrics about the idyllic life in the countryside. Many Hmong people in the West have come across these performers and identified them as "Hmong," although neither one claims that identity for themselves. This form of transnationalism has complex roots, but it is related to various processes of globalization (economic and cultural) as well as the rethinking of history and homeland within the Hmong diaspora. But transnationalism (reimagining cultural, economic, and social relationships beyond the boundaries of the nation) is a two-way street, and the music of Wang Li demonstrates the interactive nature of this process.

[Cautionary note: what follows is basically armchair anthropology (or more euphemistically: digital ethnography). The analysis is based on the interpretation of online sources in one language I barely understand (Hmong) and one language I cannot even read (Chinese). So, I reserve the right to be totally wrong. I hope that by posting these ideas here, others might be able to contribute their knowledge (or at least tell me I'm dead wrong.)]

Who is Wang Li? Internet searches turn up two albums (Wang Li Vol. 1 and Vol. 2) and a number of links to .mp3s of her recordings. Nothing about her biography is available. If we trust a karaoke video of her song "Kuv nyob rooj kuj," however, the evidence would suggest that she is a Hmong person living in China. I came across the video in one of my periodic searches of Chinese YouTube clones (fairly comprehensive list here). The long-term availability of videos on these sites is pretty inconsistent, but at the time of posting, the video can still be viewed on Tuduo.com. (If not, you can listen to the stream of the .mp3.) Clues to the location include a pagoda-type monument with artwork depicting scenes from what could be construed as Miao history. Wang is also dressed in style of clothing that Hmong people have described to me as being "Chinese": a round, beaded hat with a flat top. More to the point, in the song she refers to herself as: "Zoo siab tias kuv yog ib tug ntxhais Hmoob suav" (happy because I am a Hmong Chinese girl.)

If this is the case, she distinguishes herself from similar performers (like Song and Ayouduo) by singing in Hmoob Dawb (White Hmong) rather than Chinese. This could mean a couple of things: 1) she is really a Hmong person from Thailand playing the role of a Hmoob Suav for the song, or 2) that her music is much more narrowly focused in terms of audience. Her lyrics, however, speak to the whole of the global Hmong community:

Refrain:
Txawm tias koj nyob rau mis kais
los yog koj nyob rau fab kis
Txhob hnov qab peb yob Hmoob ib yam
Peb lub qub teb qab chaw twb yog roob kuj

[Even if you live in America
Or if you live in France,
Don't forget, the the Hmong are all one people.
Our old homeland is still the mountain.]

The song isn't simply about an imagined unity between all Hmong people, she also suggests a course of action:

Vim tias peb yog Hmoob ib yam
Peb yuav tsum sib hlub sib pab
Txawm tias peb ib leeg nyob rau ib qhov
Tiam sis peb yuav sum nco nroov peb Hmoob txoj kev cai

[Because we Hmong are all the same
We must love each other and help each other
Even though we one people live in one place (unsure of translation)
We still must remember our Hmong traditions]

This is not a unique sentiment in Hmong popular music. In fact Hmoob hlub Hmoob ("Hmong love Hmong") is fairly common theme. The context of this video, however, provides a different take on how this "love" and "help" can be realized. The video was posted to Tuduo.com under the title "苗家少女情 (my translation: Miaozu Minority Girl's Feelings/Song) by the user 蚩尤后裔 (more videos available on the page). It is interesting to note that the subdomain in the url points to /miaozu - the Chinese name for the Miao nationality. The user appears to be connected with http://hi-hmoob.com/ (warning: slow-loading, requires IE): a Chinese/Hmong/English website that bills itself as the "China Hmong shopping and tourism network." It features an online store where Hmong/Miao handicrafts are sold as well as several articles (some in English) about the excellent opportunities for travel in southern China. There are also several articles about economic development in the region, suggesting the potential for future investment. In this way, trade, travel, money, and culture move across borders - reinforcing and reinventing connections in the diasporic space.

It is important to note that these types of exchanges are not entirely novel. Cultural and economic exchanges have always been occurring outside the authority of the nation state - especially in places like southern China and Souteast Asia where ethnic identity tends to be plural and malleable. Hmong people have already been making journeys inside and outside China for centuries. What is different about this transnational movement? The distances covered, the technology of communication, and the scale of the political and economic consequences of these exchanges (which have not yet been fully realized.)

Performers like Ayouduo work closely with regional tourism officials and her music certainly has a promotional element in it. I'm not sure yet if Wang Li is selling anything or not. The music itself is appealing. It is orchestrated in the same bombastic style of other Chinese pop songs, but it lacks the high production values of Song or Ayouduo. Still, Wang is a talented singer and this song (and others) are well-crafted, within interesting melodies and sometimes surprising harmonic twists. I look forward to learning more about her and her music (although, I still have not been able to find her music for sale online.)

A You Duo - Miao pop star

Louisa Schein draws our attention to the popular success of a young Miao singer from Guizhou province (for the full article see: Hmong Today - 13 October, 2006). A You Duo (also spelled: A Youduo or 阿朵作品, in Chinese [at least I think]) is actually Hmu, one of the several groups that make up the Miao nationality (minzu) in China. She performs in both Mandarin and the Hmu dialect of Miao (the Eastern branch of the Hmong/Miao language group). Still, she is identified by Schein (and many posters on the internet) as Hmong--part of the transnational trend to include all Miao people in the Hmong ethnic group.

As Schein says in her article, A You Duo is more than just a pop star. She is an "ethnic performer" who utilizes her position as an ethnic minority in her performances. This includes singing some songs in the Hmu language (which shares some words with White and Green H/Mong) and singing about places, practices, and themes associated with the Miao people. In fact, much of her success has come through the promotion of Miao culture for regional tourism. Her traditional Hmu costume (featuring intricate embroidery and dazzling silver ornaments) is a work of art and a brilliant advertisement wherever she performers--a visual parallel to the beautiful scenery of Guizhou province she describes in her lyrics. Some people may find this commercialization of Miao culture to be inauthentic. But ethnic minorities in modern China travel multiple boundaries (ethnic/cultural/linguistic/geographical/etc) and are just as much a part of the modern, globalized world as anyone else. At the same time, they create continuity with the past though ongoing practices, like performing music and wearing special clothes. There is a definite sense of pride in A You Duo's work--pride in her Miao heritage and pride in being an outstanding musician who can hold her own against any pop singer in the world.

A number of videos have popped up on YouTube (search: Ayouduo) and of course, she has her own website: www.ayouduo.com (it's in Chinese, but here is a translated version via Google). Her website actually features a number of .mp3 downloads which showcase her amazing voice (translated music download page). The production is great, too--strings, percussion, synthesizers (often cinematic in scope). Schein mentions the phenomenon of "Miao pop," of which A You Duo is a part, along with "Song Zuying, Luo Xiuying, the “three sisters” A Sang, A Duo and A Yi, and Mee Hang." In fact, people from many ethnic minorities are currently involved in blending old and new musical sounds, especially young people who have left rural homes to work in major urban centers. In A You Duo's performances, she asserts her identity through costume, language, and topics, but also sound. While I'm not terribly well-versed in the intricacies of Hmu music, there are definitely some traditional sounds that A You Duo has brought into her style. Over the next few days, I'll discuss a few examples to highlight these sounds and discuss how they interact with musical framework of her performances.

Delicious Venom Videos on YouTube

From a performance on 4/29/06
Tequila Moonrise
30 Year Secret
(Too bad you can't hear the lyrics very well, its a great performance)

Ntuj No Tuaj Lawm

A classic Hmong song that continues to inspire new generations of musicians and music fans. It's iconic status provides a good example of how what is usually consider popular music can take on a "traditional" character over time.

From what I have been able to piece together, it was written by the prolific Lis Pov (Paul Ly/Lee Pao) currently of the Pheej Ywg Band (website). The earliest version I'm aware of is by the Kaab Nqausvas band with singer Vaaj Ntxawg, but I'm not sure of the date. This version is also available on the "Kaab Nqausvas Best Collection" album, which contains songs from their four previous albums. Information about Kaab Nqausvas is difficult to come by, but I'll post again as I learn more.
The Kaab Nqausvas albums are for sale at Long Chang (LoobCeeb) Entertainment
[note: the page contains audio examples of all the songs, including Ntuj no tuaj lawm]

Here is a clip from a movie (purportedly "Kev Hlub Txiav Tsis Tau") using the song over an emotional reunion. YouTube - Ntuj No Tuaj Lawm

Cover versions (that I know of):

Luj Yaj - unknown album [song retitled: Koj nyob qhov twg]

Rasmi Moua - currently posted at Cyber Brain

Jay Xiong (of Hmongdictionary.com) - Jay sings over a karaoke version of the song (.mp3 download)

An excellent version also appears in Kang Vang's new movie "Tou and Mai" (more info). A demo version (vocals by Becky Vang and music by Kenny Lee) is currently available on YouTube