{"id":6981,"date":"2019-11-22T15:44:43","date_gmt":"2019-11-22T15:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diningtraveler.com\/?p=6981"},"modified":"2019-11-25T15:44:35","modified_gmt":"2019-11-25T15:44:35","slug":"support-immigrant-chefs-by-ordering-take-out-from-foodhini","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diningtraveler.com\/2019\/11\/support-immigrant-chefs-by-ordering-take-out-from-foodhini.html","title":{"rendered":"Support Immigrant Chefs by Ordering from Foodhini"},"content":{"rendered":"
I am going to come right out of the gate and acknowledge that I am a huge fan of Foodhini. I love the food, I love the concept and I especially love the story behind the business.<\/p>\n
Founder Noobtsaa Philip Vang grew up watching his mother, a refugee from Laos, struggle to make ends meet without being able to use her greatest talent, her culinary skills. One day when living in D.C. and homesick for his mother’s cooking, he came up with a genius idea to create Foodhini. Foodhini is a business where immigrants with existing culinary skills can work in a central kitchen to create dishes for a food delivery program. By doing so, Vang created not only sustainable employment for immigrants who often face challenges in finding work, but he also developed a platform for such refugees to share their culture through a medium that everyone loves: food.<\/p>\n Like any other online food delivery program: you go to the Foodhini website<\/a> and place an order. The dishes you can choose from are made by the eight chefs currently employed at Foodhini, which include Chef Yebralem, who came to the US from Eritrea due to political instability, Chef Mina from Iran, Chef Mam from Laos, Chef Majed and Chef Gousoun who are both refugees from Syria, Chef Dorjee a refugee from Tibet, Chef Wing from the Phillippines and Chef Tausif from Bangladesh.<\/p>\n Being such a fan of Foodhini I have sampled items from several different chefs. Chef Yebralem is one of my favorites; her Eritrean food is a mix of less common Eritrean dishes and some familiar Ethiopian-inspired dishes. Recently, I sampled her specitini,<\/em> a dish where veggies such as carrots, broccoli, and green beans are saut\u00e9ed in a super garlicky tomato sauce. Served with injera (bread), the dish is really substantial and hearty. She also makes shiro<\/em>, a classic Eritrean and Ethiopian spicy mashed chickpea dish that is ideal for mopping up with the injera.<\/p>\n I love all Asian food therefore I find Chef Mam\u2019s food to be especially delicious, and a great variation from Thai food, which is so prevalent in D.C. Her pumpkin curry is rich and silky smooth, laden with tofu and veggies, while her lettuce wraps are addictive. Coconut and red curry marinated rice and then tossed with tofu, lemongrass, red onions, and peanuts. It is a little sweet, a little salty, a little chewy and a little crispy. I don’t even need the lettuce wrap, I can just eat the filling on its own.<\/p>\n<\/a>
How does Foodhini Work? <\/strong><\/h2>\n
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What is the Food Like?<\/strong><\/h2>\n