There were a number of Hmong immigrants in MN / WI in the 80s. They were the hill people of Cambodia/Laos/Thailand. My college roommate had to sneak out of the country through a trail of land mines to get out. His uncle brought over the family one at a time, taught them the language and a job in the family business. They were good hard working people who knew the dangers of socialism. They were not welfare queens.
Anyway, there were a large number of Vietnamese restaurants up north that were really Hmong style cooking. Vietnamese restaurants now are all about the pho. I have been having trouble finding really good Vietnamese food in Vegas much less traditional Hmong style I grew up with.
Luckily, I have a secret weapon named Tomoko. I showed her pictures of what I was looking for and she snooped through a number of recipes on line. Bingo. 5 out of 5 stars on the first attempt. These have wrappers that blister like the Chinese version (not Thai) and have glass noodles, pork, carrot, shrimp, and other goodies inside. The Hmong also have a weird fish sauce for dipping unlike the standard sweet and sour commonly served.
