Asian American Heritage Month 2022: Food, Culture and Traditions from Indochina

Associate Director of Sales
Le Méridien Houston Downtown

My parents escaped Vietnam by fishing boat in 1978. They left everything behind – careers, family, friends, and every personal belonging – for the chance to be free and to start anew. Onboard with them floating through the Pacific Ocean was my oldest brother, who was a newborn and only ten days old. They eventually ran out of fuel and were rescued by coast guards off the coast of the Philippines. My brother was given the middle name, Liberato, which means “to be freed” in Tagalog. This story is not uncommon among Vietnamese immigrants.

 There were an estimated 800,000 “boat people.” For those that survived, their stories and heritage are all they were able to bring with them to the U.S., and all they were able to pass down to their children. While we don’t have photo albums, heirloom jewelry or wedding dresses, we’ve inherited the traditions, songs and recipes – all the ways we connect with and continue to celebrate our culture.

Massage Therapist – St. Somewhere Spa
Margaritaville Resort Orlando

WHAT ASIAN AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH MEANS TO ME:

For me, it means getting to bring awareness of my history and the diversity of all the cultures that embody the Asian American community.  My family is from Cambodia and I am a first generation American immigrant.  I was born in Massachusetts and moved to Florida when I was 4 years-old.  I grew up with the stories of what my grandparents and parents went through back in Cambodia during the Vietnam War and then with the Genocide of the late 70’s (the Cambodian Genocide was an explosion of mass violence that saw between 1.5 and 3 million people killed at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, a communist political group).  Their experiences and resilience have made me who I am today.  I look up to them and I want to make them as proud as they make me.  I carry forward the stories to my daughter to make sure that our story continues through our generations.

TRADITIONS OR CELEBRATION WITH FAMILY: 

We have so much fun celebrating Cambodian New Year’s shortly before the start of Asian American Heritage Month (April 14 – 16).  As a Buddhist Family, we start off by going to Temple.  We pray to our ancestors and the universe, in hopes that we will get the same blessings in return.  We then prepare our celebration with lots of food, candles, and music!  Favorite foods include pork and rice, chicken red curry, beef stewed in palm sugar, and my favorite, Somlor Machu Youn (Sweet and Sour Soup).

A TRADITIONAL RECIPE:

SOMLOR MACHU YOUN

Ingredients:

• About 4 cups water
• 1 whole small fish, chopped into 5-6 pieces (including head and skin)
• 2 stalks lemongrass only bottom third of stalk, tough outer layers removed, sliced thin
• 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
• 2-3 green onions, bottom half only, chopped into large pieces
• 2-3 cilantro stems, chopped into large pieces
• 5-6 tsps fish sauce
• 1 tsp organic sugar
• 1 tsp sea salt
• Juice of 2-3 small limes
• 2-3 whole bird’s eye chiles
• ¼ white onion, chopped into fine strips

Seasonings (add as much of each as you want):

• Fried garlic
• Cilantro leaves
• Green onions
• Fish sauce
• Lime wedges

Instructions:

1. Bring water to a boil and add all ingredients (except the chiles and onions), including the whole fish, and simmer about 10-15 minutes until fish is cooked through. If you’re not using a whole fish, sub fish or chicken broth for water and simply add the fish filets in step 4.
2. Taste and add more fish sauce, sugar, salt and/or lime, to taste.
3. Add whole chiles and simmer for about another 10 minutes.
4. Add white onion in the last few minutes.
5. Ladle soup into individual bowls and serve with a side of white jasmine rice.
6. Add garnishes of green onions, fried garlic, cilantro leaves, lime wedges and fish sauce, to taste.