Love Khao Swe
"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.
What does courage mean to you?
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.
