Sunday, October 13, 2024
By Jen Hirthe
Correspondent
GREEN BAY – Armed with her grandmother’s recipes as inspiration, Amanda Lor opened TaisTais Kitchen in Green Bay to not only honor her Hmong heritage, but to share that proud heritage with the community through home-cooked, traditional Hmong dishes.
“My dream is to share my grandma’s cooking with the community so that everyone can have a taste of the culture and experience the different flavors with each bite,” Lor said, “Tais Tais (pronounced Thigh Thigh) means ‘grandmother’ in Hmong, and like the good old saying, ‘Grandma knows best.’”
The expression not only serves as inspiration for the name of the restaurant, but for the food as well.
Lor said the menu is filled with recipes passed down through generations.
She said recipes are influenced from different regions of Southeast Asia, predominantly Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and China.
Offering a wide variety of authentic Hmong cuisine including stuffed chicken wings, papaya salad, Chicken Pho, egg rolls, Hmong sausage, a variety of noodle dishes and more.
She said the restaurant’s produce and spices are sourced out weekly to ensure freshness.
Lor said the food is simple, yet complex when cooked with the many herbs and spices included in each unique dish.
“The idea stemmed from me seeing the amount of energy and time spent in the kitchen by my grandmother, mother and aunts cooking for family gatherings in the early mornings throughout my childhood,” she said. “As I got older and was able to lend a helping hand in the kitchen, I gained valuable lessons on how to cook from them.”
Lor said every tais tais also has their own twist to each dish that is passed down to younger generations, which makes them even more personal and special.
“The heritage of the restaurant is important to me because being born a Hmong woman, cultivating, cooking and cleaning is an important part of our culture,” she said. “When the Hmong women cook, they put a little bit of their personality and experience into each spoonful of food and it shows the elegance and beauty of what we can do with our two hands.” By showing love, compassion, and hospitality to their guests, they are showing respect to their elders.
Lor said just as the food is unique, so to is the restaurant’s staff.
Tais Tais Kitchen has four different generations working together behind the scenes.
“We are always here for each other,” she said, “As a family, we work well with each other to keep our food tasting authentic.”
Lor said Tais Tais Kitchen is about family, unity, support, culture and community – something they share through their cooking.
Tais Tais Kitchen, located inside the Main Oriental Market in downtown Green Bay (607 Pine St.), is open from 10 a.m. to 7 Tuesday-Sunday.
Though the restaurant just recently opened, Lor said there are already best sellers, including Pho, Papaya, egg rolls, and roast pork.
Lor, who lives in Minnesota, owns Tais Tais but leaves the day-to-day operations and magic behind the food to her mother Mai Ya Xiong and aunt Mai Xoing, who came to the U.S. from Laos/Thailand during the Vietnam War.
“I rotate my weeks,” Lor said. “I rotate my weeks. I stay in Green Bay for two weeks, and come back for one week to do shopping and other things needed to be done for the restaurant. Then I go back. When I’m not there, I am always on call and watching remotely.”
Lor said she and her husband, ChengMeng Vang, make a great team collaborating on the restaurant’s menu.
Lor said a Hmong Proverb: “Lub ncauj saj zaub mov, lub plawv saj los lus,” which means, “The mouth tastes food, the heart tastes words,” is what Tais Tais Kitchen brings to the community.
