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Love Khao Swe

Love Khao Swe

, Beatriz Aurelio

The Tuk Tuk Box Team is so honored to be able to share Mary and Tin Tin Aye's, a mother daughter duo, story this December. Mary and Tin Tin Aye share traditional Burmese dishes from their San Francisco, Bay Area hometown with rotating and new dishes every week. With offerings for the omnivores to vegan dishes, Love Khao Swe, has a little something for every palette! 
 
Follow their journey:
"My mom always wanted to have her own restaurant but as an immigrant from Burma in the US with 3 children plus my sister who was born in the US later on to look after, she never really got around to making her dream a reality. My mom did catering and lunch specials from her home as a side hustle to provide for our family while working a full-time job most of the time. Growing up, I watched my mom cook and fell in love with cooking myself. I saw the passion and love she put into all of her dishes. This motivated me and taught me to put the same love and passion into the food I cooked. During the first month of quarantine, I realized I was unhappy with the job I was at and decided to finally pursue cooking Burmese food as a career. I thought about my mom and all she sacrificed for us to us and felt it was time to make my mom's dream come true by cooking together and sharing our love for food with the world."

 

 

 What is your favorite dish? Is there a story behind it?

I am highlighting our Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup because it is our best seller and it is the dish I started selling when we first started out. I always felt like this dish was a star but for some reason when I go to Burmese restaurants, they never showed the potential of this dish. So here I am, showing the world how amazing and delicious this noodle soup dish is.

Coincidentally enough, my favorite dish is the Coconut chicken noodle soup. My mom threw us little birthday parties at home where she would invite all her friends to join us for lunch/dinner. She would cook up to 7 different dishes at a time. It was quite an event to be invited to one of my mom's birthday parties she threw us. Every year for my birthday, my mom would ask me which dish I wanted for my birthday and Coconut Chicken noodle soup was my pick every time. My mom always made sure that Coconut chicken noodle soup was on the menu for my birthday every year.
What does courage mean to you?
Courage to me is leaving behind your entire family in Burma to live in a foreign country without speaking the language, start a new life and to give your children the "American Dream." This is my mom. The word courage alone is my mom. She is the definition of courage because she did that without hesitation. She had no idea what to expect, she just did it. I think about how scary it must have been for my mom to leave everything and everyone she loved behind to give a better life for my brothers and I. Courage is leaving the fear behind and entering the unknown with a heart filled with hope.
Where can we expect to see you in the next few years? 

In the next few years I will be working on new projects for love khao swe. Will I have a brick and mortar anytime soon? Probably not. The reason why is because I feel like this concept I have created has so much space to grow so being limited to one space would not be ideal. I always admired food places that were not accessible at all times. It made them special and it made us want them more. I want love khao swe to be special. I don't know what I will be doing exactly, but I know for sure when I figure out the concept, love khao swe will always hold its title as "that special home-cooked style Burmese food.

Thank you so much to Mary and Tin Tin Aye for sharing their story with us! Tuk Tuk box is proud to exclusively feature Southeast Asian ingredients and include refugee, migrant, and generational stories in every box.

Tuk Tuk Box loves to share stories of the diaspora like these two mother-daughter duos and are honored to be able to have the space and platform to share with others. If you would like to share your family's stories with us email hello@tuktukbox.com. 

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