“I believe that Hmong food isn’t a type of food, but it’s a philosophy of food,” says chef Yia Vang of Vinai in Minneapolis. “It’s a way of thinking about food. It tells the story of our people.” The ...

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — Nearly every day, you can find Chef Yia Vang cooking outside Sociable Cider Werks in northeast Minneapolis. Vang and his staff operate Union Hmong Kitchen from a trailer out ...

Chef Yia Vang was born in a refugee camp in Thailand and moved with his family to the U.S. when he was 5. They eventually settled in Minnesota, where his family was part of the large Hmong community ...

Chow Her spooned a pork mixture onto a piece of dough and twisted the edges together. Her daughters, Susan and Lou Her, hovered over their mother as the dough started to resemble a ball. "Good job, ...

Chef Vang shares Hmong heritage through food in Minneapolis. Chef Yia Vang uses food as a catalyst for storytelling and firmly believes that every dish has a narrative. Yia fuses local Minnesotan ...

Yia Vang has a set of classic stories he loves to tell. He's just told me the one about the guy who comes up after a Hmong cooking demonstration, cups Vang's big right hand in both of his, looks up ...

Despite the fact that Minnesota has more than 100,000 Hmong residents, finding examples of Hmong cooking is not easy. With a long tradition of oral history, cookbooks featuring Hmong food are rare and ...

MINNEAPOLIS — The Great Northern’s Festival Eve is set to begin on Jan. 26 outside of Quincy Hall in northeast Minneapolis and will feature one local chef showcasing his Hmong heritage in one of his ...

After his family fled Laos for America, Yia Vang was at first embarrassed by his family's home cooking. Then he learned to embrace it, and found... Yia Vang grew up in a family of storytellers. When ...

Yia Vang grew up in a family of storytellers. When he was a child, his father used to regale him and his six siblings with war stories from his native Laos. His mother would read verses from the Bible ...