AAPI (Asian American and Pacific) HERITAGE MONTH :: Uplighting & Honoring Asian Americans in Downtown Troy, NY. Follow our social media for history, highlighting organizations & learning about Troy’s amazing individuals for an engaged, thriving Downtown community.
Chef at Sunhee's Farm and Kitchen, Myo Myo, couldn’t have lucked out better for her first work experience in USA. Without previous cooking experience, Myo Myo began working at Sunhee’s Farm & Kitchen in 2016 as a dishwasher. Slowly and diligently; moving up to Chef de Partie, then training alongside Mrs. Kim, owner Jinah’s Kim’s mother, Myo Myo learned her recipes for Kimchi Fried Rice, Seafood Tofu Jigae Stew and more. Originally from Myanmar, (formerly Burma) Myo Myo moved to Thailand when she was 19 years old and began working as an aide for the edlerly for 4 years. She went on to waitress at a small restaurant, received her masseuse license and worked as a professional masseuse before she moved to the US through USCRI (U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants) in Albany.
Myo Myo says that she can learn any job, & has liked everything she has done; at the end of the day they require caring for people. The best way that Sunhee’s Farm & Kitchen shows care is through food. But they also provide a space & community for every staff member to grow. Working is like working with family, people who are like friends, cousins & sisters, Myo Myo says. It is a friendly, respectful environment where you are seen for you. Myo Myo is now tri-lingual! Having completed her Sunhee’s English course certification. She’s fluent in Burmese, Thai & English. She would like to continue with studying English. Her hobbies include video editing with the many photos she takes & crochet projects from a full-sized tea-length dress to coffee mug & handle cozies.
Myo Myo’s favorite memories are from the Burmese New Year (Thingyan Water Festival) in April of every year. It is a Buddhist festival celebrated over 4-5 days, culminating in the New Year. During that time, water is thrown & splashed to celebrate and welcome in the New Year.
It’s believed that water acts as a soul purifier. Getting wet means that one can start the New Year with a cleansed soul. Celebrations includes spouts installed in public spaces, dance floors & snacks including glutinous rice balls filled with jaggery (palm sugar). Watch out for the trick one with the bird’s eye chili!
The New Year cumulates with a visit to elders, offering a terra cotta pot filled with water, hairwashing & offering prayers at temples.
Outside of celebrations, Myo Myo enjoys Burmese dishes such as Mohinga, fish soups & tea leaf salads. Mohinga is a traditionally a breakfast dish, now found in many places in Myanmar as an “all day breakfast.” It includes rice noodles in a savory broth of fish, thickened with toasted chickpea or rice flour, lots of lemongrass & topped with cilantro, lime, crisp chickpeas and a hard boiled egg.
Myanmar has a long history of varied unrest. On February 1, 2021 Ms Suu Kyi's NLD party won the general election. However she has been detained & military coup is overseeing the country, with restrictions and curfews. The protests over the coup have been the largest since the Saffron Revolution in 2007, when thousands of monks rose up against the military regime. Current protesters include teachers, lawyers, students, bank officers & government workers. However 700 people have died since the unrest. Myo Myo has rallied with area residents from Burma & supporters at Lincoln Park in Albany on March 21, 2021 & raised donations to support families back home.
Sharing trials & tribulations, Myo Myo encourages individuals to support her homeland of Burma. (Connect with her @love.home.1291 ) in addition to celebrating AAPI Month locally with Sunhee’s Farm & Kitchen Night Market AAPI Heritage Month Edition on May 28, 2021.
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