Follow Me to Motherland Cookie
“Mothers Are Queen”
Since this month celebrates Asian American Heritage, I thought it would be nice to celebrate Mother's Day week creating cookies with Hmong inspiration in the IG style of "Follow me to." The unwritten history about the Hmong people (pronounced "Mong" because the letter H is silent) is that they originated from Mongolia and mainland China thousands of years ago before migrating to other neighboring countries such as Laos, Burma, and Vietnam. After the fall of the Vietnam War, that's when most of them became refugees having to flee their countries and eventually ending up across the Mekong River in Thailand. From there, church organizations and the Red Cross assisted the Hmong refugees with resettlement community co-sponsorship to the United States, France, and Australia. Today, it's estimated that there are under 300,000 Hmong living in the United States. Some believe that the word Hmong means "freedom," which is what my ancestors have been seeking throughout their nomadic way of life.
If you want to know how some of us assimilated in the states, just watch the indie movie, 1985, available on Amazon Prime. If you want a glimpse of the Hmong gangster life, then check out Gran Torino. Not every uprooted American story is the same. Still, one thing for sure is that they had humble beginnings. Psst, check back later for never been seen photos behind the set of Clint Eastwood's film, Gran Torino. Without further ado, I present to you Follow Me to the Motherland Cookie Project. I think this will become an ongoing hobby since there are over 50 ethnic Hmong groups throughout Southeast Asia.
Fondant is my new favorite medium!
This was the sugar cookie recipe that I was happy to find because the dough didn't need any chilling. Due to the shortage of AP flour, I was able to find a premium wheat pastry dough by Bob's Red Mill, which I have been using to make pancakes too. It was also nice to already have a silicone baking mat, and the cookies were baked within 6 minutes! I bought my icing colors and sprinkles last year from Michael's Craft Store. Design inspiration came from the various traditional Hmong headdresses and clothes.
FYI: There are approximately 2.7 million Hmong Chinese in China and over 55 ethnic Hmong tribes throughout Asia with different dialects. In the United States, there's less than 270,000 Hmong, and we either speak White or Green Hmong (an easier way of explaining this is northern accent vs. southern accent). Think it's hard to learn the Hmong language? Just look up Mormons speaking Hmong - it's pretty impressive if you're Hmong and struggles with your own language!
By the way, I am on a mission to find a National Geographic magazine that featured the Hmong tribes in Asia -the magazine was probably published between 1980 - 1996. It came with a large folding map illustrating the various Hmong tribes. My father proudly hung this massive map in our rental home in Detroit back in the mid-'90s, and it hasn't been seen since we moved. When I asked my dad where he got the map from, he said there were copies of it from a Hmong book store in St. Paul, MN. If you know anything about this unique map or magazine edition, please contact me! It's genuinely a beautiful one-of-a-kind map that is a collector's item!
Here's a design inspired by the Flower Hmong of Vietnam, where they're known for their bright embroidered clothes. Tourists love visiting the countryside of Sapa, Vietnam, for their rolling rice fields and traditional living experience to learn the art of batik, silversmithing, and traditional cooking.
Below is "Niam," which means mother. She's also carrying her baby in a traditional embroidered carrier similar to the baby wraps that the modern moms started using in the recent years. This mother's outfit was inspired by the region of Chiang Mai, Thailand.
“Mother is the only person who carries you for 9 months in her belly, 3 years in her arms, and forever in her heart.”
Happy Mother's Day, and thanks for visiting! Follow me @apantryliving on Instagram for more motherland-inspired cookie designs in the coming months. Also, if you want to know how to save time with fondant cookie designs and learn easy decorating tricks, just subscribe to my email list.