Learning how to Roll the Egg Rolls
In a hot summer morning we participants of the Tamejavi Cultural Organizing Fellowship Program and members of the coordinating group tour a Hmong Family garden in the peripheral of Clovis, California. This was part of a cultural exchange activity we engage in last weekend at one of the fellow’s house-Mr. Bee.
Bee invited us at his house to learn how to cook and eat egg rolls and papaya salad. Throughout the activity Mr. Bee engaged us into cultural related conversations. He talk to us how the Hmong community in Fresno continue to cook with their traditional recipes like the papaya salad. He also clarify some information about Hmong culture. He told us for example that egg rolls are not Hmong authentic food but Chinese.
This Hmong cultural kitchen event is only one of may events we have attended as part one and half year program organized by Pan Valley Institute where we aim to explore culture, the art through cultural organizing and Popular Education principles.
Pan Valley Institute Blog 
Bee, thank you for opening your house and for sharing with us your culinary traditions, the love and respect your people has for nature, the good use you do of it for eating, healing and for meeting utilitarian needs. I really enjoyed making egg rolls, visiting your garden and listening to the stories you and your family share about the life in Laos and ways you are recreating important tradition as you also learn new cultural practices. You have a lovely Family!
Thank you for posting Juan. That is a great picture you posted regarding learning to role the egg role. Thank you for you not only just coming to the event, but brought your own traditional drink with you to share with all of us. That is a great traditional drink, Juan.
Thank you Myrna, for giving your day to join us at our house for the Hmong Culture Kitchen event. I hope this event inhanced and introduced you to many thing that you had been reading, learning and researching about the Hmong culture so far. Learning and seeing is great, but experiencing is what matter most because you get hand experience with it.
Finally, thank you for everyone you able to show up for the Hmong Culture Kitchen Event from the fellows and staffs of PVI as well as the Hmong Culture Connection team. We have about 15 people at the event not including the children. Once again, thank you for coming.
Cher Teng (Bee) Yang
I loved it! It definitely a new experience which I am happy I was part of. Thank you Bee for the invitation, stories sharing and all the delicious food! Everything was great from the visit to the garden to the visit to the chicken houses but my favorite part was learning how to make the egg rolls. I am taking what I learned that day and I am planning on now teaching my family how to prepare them.
I love the pics taken. Thank you for sharing. Looks like lots of fun!