Tibetan Gyoza Stall

Two months ago, one Tibetan family opened a small food stall of momo on the street in front of my office. Momo is a Tibetan food which is very similar to steamed gyoza, Chinese dimsum.

 

A young Tibetan boy opens the small stall at 2 p.m.; the stall is only 1.5 meter wide and 1 meter deep. Very small wooden counter only. He puts a triple-decker steamer on a small gas stove and lines up gyoza which he prepared at home in each level of steamer. Turns on the gas and waits for the first customer. After five when the hottest time is over, his mother joins at the stall and cooks more momos for people who are on the way home.

I found this stall a week ago. I happened to see the handwritten sign on a cardboard hanged up on the street. It said “Momo, Veg/Non-Veg, Rs. 20.” They serve 5 pieces of momo with a cup of vegetable soup. The momo, especially their veg-momos remind me the nostalgic Japanese gyoza taste (which I don’t remember exactly since I haven’t had it for more than three years). Since then, I go to the stall almost every day and have a plate of momos.

 

Everytime I go, I explain to the shopkeepers how much I like their momos and how it’s better than the fake momos sold in fancy shopping malls. The mother says “Of course it’s good because I cook it here in front of you. It’s fresh, and it’s a real Tibetan momos.” She actually doesn’t speak so much English, and I don’t speak Hindi, so a book shop keeper next of the momo stall jumps in and translates for us in between.

Before I came to India, I had never thought of myself finding nostalgia in Tibet. Tibet was a far and mysterious country that I never be related. But we have similar features; many Indian people recognize me as Tibetan. And here in Bombay, where the signs of Japan are so lack, I feel like Tibet is another blood family and Tibetan momos make me feel safe.

 

I guess Tibetan people living in Bombay also miss the country and find Japanese people as a little closer relative. They are often waiters at restaurants, local shop keepers, or beauticians. When they see me, they ask my name and nationality. Indian people also do the same thing often, but with more curiosity to things that is not familiar for them. But Tibetan people do this with more friendly gesture, and whatever my answer is, they look like satisfied to find a similar face person near by them anyway.  

Strangely, the Tibetan momo is becoming the taste of my sweet home nonetheless I’ve never been to Tibet in my life. Maybe…., one looks for a connection, especially being away.

2010

04/12

POSTED BY

Ai Kanoh

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