Hmong Village in St. Paul, Minnesota

October shot by like a cannon ball out of a cannon and now we are in November.

There was a lot going on last month, including a visit from Young Son and his family.

During their visit, they wanted to check out Hmong Village in St. Paul, a place we had never heard of, which isn’t surprising. Hubby and I have only lived in the metro for a few years, so we’ve barely scratched the surface of everything in this seven-county area.

We first went to Hmong Village on a weekend and, holy cow, was it packed! We could barely find parking. The building is nondescript. But for all the traffic, you probably wouldn’t expect the hive of activity inside.

Upon entering, we saw floor-to-ceiling stalls of colorful clothing, health and beauty products, clothing, candy, and etc., so much that we couldn’t take it all in.

 

 

We didn’t spend much time looking at these stalls because Young Son and his wife were eager to get to the farmer’s market, a large area with stalls filled with fresh produce. Aside from the fact that it was indoors, it felt very much like an outdoor market.

 

 

 

Young Son and his wife were on the hunt for jackfruit, rambutan, and mangosteen. Young Son’s wife taught us what to look for when buying the ripe, packaged meat of a jackfruit. It should be a deep yellow, not white, and it should smell fruity and sweet. A full jackfruit looks like a giant, brown, bumpy watermelon. Young Son’s wife said it is very messy to process one of these as the jackfruit is very sticky.

 

 

After picking up the fruit, we went to the food court at Hmong Village to grab some lunch. Hubby and I had eggrolls and sausage. The kids had pho and Korean hot dogs. They also opened the package of jackfruit and asked if we would like some. I was super hesitant. My only experience with jackfruit was a package Hubby and I had picked up years ago that was marketed as a meat substitute and it was flavored with barbecue sauce. I hated it.

I tentatively tried a piece of fresh jackfruit and was pleasantly surprised. I loved it! Later that day, after we returned home, we all sat around the table, chowing down on jackfruit, rambutan, and mangosteen.

 

 

We quickly went through the fruit and returned to Hmong Village on a weekday to pick up more. The parking lot wasn’t quite as busy this time. We stopped once again at the food court for lunch. This time, I had pho, which was delicious.

 

 

We are fortunate to have the vibrant Hmong Village in the Twin Cities Metro, which has become home to the largest urban population of Hmong people in the world. For some history on the Hmong in Minnesota, check out this MNopedia article.

And, if you’re going to be in St. Paul, stop by Hmong Village, but be sure to give yourself plenty of time to look around and bring a big appetite.