On Friday afternoon MSPD and I headed over to the fairly new Hmong Village in St. Paul. Very similar to other Hmong markets such as the Hmong Marketplace and the market which houses Destiny Cafe, this insanely large indoor Hmong flea market has it all including a very large selection of food stands serving everything from chicken feet to papaya salad. While I am still new to the dishes the Hmong have to offer, I have to admit that it’s one of my top three ethnic foods to eat and I absolutely love diving in and trying items which would generally turn the stomachs of just about anyone else.
Not knowing any better I entered the indoor flea market from what I consider to be the main entrance. I found myself immersed in what felt like an endless maze of shops and people. Not generally one to get disoriented I have to admit that I found myself wandering deeper and deeper into the market following only my nose in an attempt to locate the food vendors. First my nose led me to a large indoor farmers market with a variety of fresh vegetables and herbs. As I exited this area on the opposite end from which I entered I knew I was close–I could almost feel the smell of meat cooking in the air. Eventually I arrived at what MSPD had described to me in an e-mail a few hours before: a “T” intersection connecting Avenue Shops with Avenue Food.
The food vendors lined an entire wall of the place in one long and beautiful line. I immediately noticed that Hmong Village was far brighter and cleaner than my experience at Hmong Marketplace and that the food, while generally the same, was also just a little different. Following some of the suggestions laid out in the Heavy Table piece on Hmong Village I set out looking for Fue’s papaya salad. According to the Heavy Table the heat level was off the charts:
The woman who made ours with a giant mortar and pestle, grinding the peppers before preparing the dish, said ours had “medium” heat. This is disputable, and for Minnesota standards, a flat-out untruth. The “hot” version must be an absolute fireball, yet with all the heat this papaya salad did not lose its flavor. Hot, yes, but the burst of flavors from loads of sweet shaved papaya, garlic, and Thai eggplant still emerged.
I, of course, asked that mine be made as hot as they could possibly make it. While I was snapping photos MSPD and I chatted with the owners who were amazed that I was so willing to just dive into something I never tried before. “But how will you know if you like it?” I was asked by one young woman behind the counter as another mixed the peppers, tomatoes, fish sauce and papaya. After stating that I generally like everything except black olives and pig uterus I found myself holding a very large styrofoam cup of the salad which smelled strongly of fish sauce but looked like any other cold salad you may see on a hot summer day in July. However this salad made a cold winter day a hot one with only two fork fulls. While the Heavy Table’s suggestion that it’s an “absolute fireball” was pure conjecture on their part, I have to admit that it was definitely hot and I later left more than half of it for later not just because I was full but because I was mildly concerned that the heat would continue building to a point of discomfort.
Being that I was on a very tight budget (the Budget Nazi permitted only $10 total though this was more than enough to stuff my face into oblivion) I slowly perused the remaining options looking to get the most food for my money. At one end of the line of vendors I found a very inexpensive Bahn Mi for $2.00. While this was nothing even close to the Vietnamese-style sandwich I had at World Street Kitchen, it was still a good size and filled with goodies. There were 5 or 6 pre-wrapped sandwiches on the counter but after asking for extra jalapenos on mine I received a freshly made sandwich wrapped and ready for my enjoyment. My sole complaint about the sandwich was that the bread was a little too crispy for me and may have even been a bit stale. The rest however, especially with the fresh jalapenos, was very tasty and well worth the $2 spent.
My final purchase was splitting three Hmong sausages with MSPD for $5. I only had $2.00 left in my pocket but he begrudgingly forked over 50 cents to tide me over. While not as good as some other Hmong sausage I have had before, most notably just a bit further down the line, it was still tasty and the variety of flavors as you move through the pieces of meat never ceases to amaze me. Kielbasa was always a holiday staple in my home growing up and I may just have to make a small alteration to accommodate these sausages instead–they’re simply that good.
Overall I loved Hmong Village in St. Paul. If you ever have a chance to get over there I highly recommend that you do so. It’s a wonderful experience for those people who are open-minded about their food and are willing to blindly order off menus or by pointing at cooked animal carcasses hanging in heated display cases. While the Heavy Table article suggests that you need a guide and someone who speaks Hmong, MSPD and I found such a case was not at all required and no one should feel threatened by the environment or the people. Everyone I spoke with was able to converse in English fluently and were not only helpful but extremely friendly and curious as to our interest in the food of their culture. I seriously cannot wait to go back again and soon.
Have you ever eaten at Hmong Village? If so what vendors do you like best and what are your favorite food items to order? How do you think the food at Hmong Village compares with what you will find at the Hmong Marketplace or restaurants like Destiny Cafe? Whatever you have to say about Hmong Village or Hmong foods in general go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear what you have to say.
Address:
Hmong Village
1001 Johnson Pkwy
St. Paul, MN 55106
Hours:
Sunday – Saturday: 11 AM – 7 PM
See all the pictures from Hmong Village on Flickr here.
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December 14th, 2010 at 8:11 am
Thanks for this. I read the article in Heavy Table, too, and was considering it for my son’s Christmas visit. He lives in the south side of Chicago, and I always feel compelled to compete against that city’s — which I hate — ethnicity. The city, not the ethnicity.
I’ve just read a book about one Hmong family’s journey from the war to life in St. Paul, called the Late Homecomer, by a local author, Kao Kalia Yang. It made me confront some of my own assumptions, and cry a bit at the end, and I really do recommend it to all.
And now, I can’t wait to see the village with eyes that have opened a bit.
December 14th, 2010 at 9:06 am
I’m eager to go back and try a few more items – portions were so generous!
Michele – I’ve also read The Late Homecomer and felt it gave me a different perspective when visiting the Hmong Village. Please check out some of the artwork in the stalls. One vendor created replicas of what he remembered back in Laos; it was exactly what I imagined when reading the book.
December 14th, 2010 at 9:54 am
I’m especially interested in seeing the artwork, the needlecraft!
According to the book, the Hmong once did have a written language, but the Chinese outlawed its use and it was forgotten. Is that true, do you think, or is it legend?
I’m a great reader of romance, but the love story between Kalia’s parents out-romances any fiction out there. Sigh. : )
December 14th, 2010 at 11:15 am
I wasn’t sure what to think about the written language being outlawed because I didn’t quite understand the story of how it happened and faded. Seems I need to read more about the Hmong culture.
December 14th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
I guess it’s possible, when we consider the enormous spans of time encompassing Asian history.
That reminds me of when my husband and I visited the visiting Vietnamese War wall up at the Capitol several years ago. My husband was studying a time line of Vietnamese history, and he wondered, “How did we ever think we could win a war with these people? The Chinese fought them for a thousand years, and they couldn’t beat them.”
A thousand years of territorial wars. I can’t even grasp it.
As to prohibiting a language, there are examples of it happening in history. The native dialect of Alsace, France, for example, was outlawed by both the French and the Germans, when either held the province, so the influence of the other would be annihilated.
Could it be possible that the Hmong language had ties to a society to which some reigning Chinese dynasty objected?
Ha, wrap your mind around THAT sentence and tell me that English shouldn’t be prohibited, at least for some of us. : )
December 14th, 2010 at 7:56 pm
michele,
fyi, it’s not the vietnamese war wall in washington, it’s the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. i wear a KIA bracelet remembering a SP4 on panel 2w/L55, at the time one of 58,191 kia’s. the number has increased by a few over the years, still very sad.
a good read is Hell in a Very Small PLace, what the US inherited from our french brothers.
when you have s.e. asian generations born, raised and die in conflict, being the only life you know, what chance if any, would you or i understand what’s going on ‘over there’ let alone the military trying to fight a ‘real war’?
December 14th, 2010 at 7:56 pm
whoops,
bb
December 14th, 2010 at 8:32 pm
Thanks, bb, I stand corrected. Once again, couldn’t wrap my words around. It was extremely emotional. There was a bagpiper in a kilt walking back and forth, playing “Amazing Grace.” One of my best friends lost her brother there, and I attended the closed casket funeral at a relatively young age, seeing her grief and never understanding. My own brothers-in-law went, and they were never the same when they came home. My husband enlisted to go (before I met him), but the class before his was the last class to go.
You’re absolutely right; we CAN’T understand. That’s why I am awed by the Asians who come here, live next door to born enemies, and just keep going. How do you do that?
December 14th, 2010 at 8:34 pm
And bb, another thought, because I’m thinking of my future DIL teaching in Chicago’s inner city: is this what we’re doing to our own? Is this all they are going to know?
December 14th, 2010 at 10:13 pm
I consider myself a pretty adventurous eater and I love ethnic food but I’ve got to admit I’ve never even tried Hmong food. I really enjoy the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis and the Hmong Village in St. Paul sounds like a similar experience. I’ll have to check it out this winter. Thanks for the great tip.
December 15th, 2010 at 6:13 am
Thank g-d you found something hot enough for your taste.
December 15th, 2010 at 9:14 am
Great review Bill. I am hoping to meet a friend down there on Saturday for lunch.
A few points on the Hmong/Vietnam. I am not sure, but I think in most cases the Hmong were regarded as our allies in Vietnam and were actually persecuted before and after our involvement because of their fight against communist North Vietnam (China).
My father, and many of his friends, served in Viet Nam, and I am profoundly grateful for the service of all the men and women in the military, both then and now.
IMO “We Were Soldiers” is an incredible book about the early days in Viet Nam, and does cover some of the French involvement which predates ours by some 20 years. As noted, the whole region has been in conflict, not for decades or centuries, but for 1000′s of years. I have been told by someone who was there that parts of the book are incredibly accurate.
For those who are interested, there is also a book written by a gentleman I know, that details his experience in Viet Nam. Its not glamourous, and will probably make you question our involvement, but it is an interesting/accurate portrayal from an “amateur” author, about his time in Viet Nam. Its called “We Were the Third Herd” by Richard F Hogue.
December 15th, 2010 at 9:15 am
Chad, my coworker who eats there several times a week warned that weekends are crazy busy. Good luck!
December 15th, 2010 at 10:26 am
It IS crazy busy on the weekends and parking can be pain so weekdays are ideal. You’ve got to try the beef short ribs and drunken noodles at Nang Kwok. It’s towards the north end of food avenue. Enjoy!
December 15th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Great one Bill, have heard about it , but your review clinches my definite visit.
I dont know much about Hmong origins, but i think they are peoples that inhabit parts of indochina over to Northern Thailand and into the highlands of
Cambodia and Vietnam… i was in northern Thailand once and had some interesting foods… very different than traditional Thai food… and the traditional clothing up there is similar to what i see some older Hmong people wearing here.
Well done sir.
December 23rd, 2010 at 10:55 am
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