i was really looking forward to visiting the hmong market in st. paul, located northwest of downtown & the capital -- it was a great experience, highly recommended!

 

st paul hmong international market article:

http://www.citypages.com/2008-05-28/restaurants/hmong-market-is-a-rare-food-adventure/

 

photos:

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/taste/59460597.html

 

st paul demographics per wiki:

 

By the 1980s, the Thomas Dale area, once a Austro-Hungarian enclave known as Frogtown (German: Froschburg), became home to Vietnamese people who left their war-torn country. Soon after a settlement program for the Hmong diaspora came and by 2000, the Saint Paul Hmong were the largest urban contingent in the United States.

 

more hmong people info on wiki:

 

The Hmong, or Mong, are an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Burma. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity in southern China. Hmong groups began a gradual southward migration in the 18th century due to political unrest and to find more arable land.

 

A number of Hmong people fought against the communist-nationalist Pathet Lao during the Secret War in Laos. Hmong people were singled out for retribution when the Pathet Lao took over the Laotian government in 1975, and tens of thousands fled to Thailand seeking political asylum. Thousands of these refugees have resettled in Western countries since the late 1970s, mostly the United States but also Australia, France, French Guiana, and Canada. Others have been returned to Laos under United Nations-sponsored repatriation programs.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hmong_people

 

 

 

 

rice, rice baby

 

joicks!

 

spiciest papaya salad I ever ate – whew I’m sweating all over again just looking at it!

 

hmong-asotans on the bus ride back to minneapolis

 

i didn’t make it, but if you’re in town -- reportedly the best viet in the twin cities

http://www.ngonbistro.com/

 

**i hope you enjoyed a peek into the relatively unknown hmong world & modern twin cities ethnicity**

 

How do these federal settlement programs work? Columbus got Somalians, St. Paul got Vietnamese, St. Louis got Serbians/Albanians (something like that...).  All seem like kind of random places for these groups.

Well done!