Strengthening Science & Making Traditional Hmong Chicken Soup

By considering diverse perspectives and including insights and knowledge from communities who might not have been historically included in science, we can strengthen our science. Researcher Alex Crum understands firsthand how different cultural perspectives can drive discovery and reveal important knowledge that can help us better care for our communities. In her case, Crum’s inclusive approach was critical for ensuring a traditional Hmong soup was able to reach the mouths of many postpartum mothers. 

Zongxee Lee, Mayyia Lee, Alex Crum, Mhonpaj Lee, Natalie Hoidal. Photo credit: Lindsey Miller

Recent Bell Museum Ph.D. graduate Alex Crum has an interest in what makes plants medicinal in terms of their cultural and biochemical impact. This interest started early on during her childhood on the Iron Range. At just 5 years old, her grandmother began teaching her what plants she could eat — and why she might eat them. 

These experiences sparked a deep fascination and admiration for the benefits of plants. Eventually, her interests in health, nature, and science brought her to plant biology — and to the lab of Bell Curator of Plants, Dr. Ya Yang. 

Alex Crum in the lab. Photo credit: Lindsey Miller

Cue the soup. 

Minnesota is home to the largest Hmong population in the United States. As a result, several hospitals throughout the metro serve a traditional Hmong postpartum chicken soup on their menus. This soup is a medicinal recipe designed to help mothers heal and recover during the first 30 days after giving birth. To source ingredients, hospitals are working with local Hmong farmers.

Mayyia (May), Mhonpaj, and Zongxee Lee’s farm is among those that sell Hmong medicinal plants. On the farm, they refer to the plants by their Hmong names. The hospitals, however, wanted to assess the safety and uses for the herbs. To do so, the Lees were instructed to provide the scientific names of the plants. This proved to be a challenge in part because the English language keys for the plants are hard to find. Furthermore, even if the keys existed, they would likely describe characteristics like flowers, color, and plant growth as they appear in Laos. The characteristics of the same plants may present differently here — for example, many plants don’t flower at all or their overall size can vary.

Beyond this, the Lees wanted to preserve their traditional knowledge and provide the scientific names of the herbs to younger generations of Hmong who have now lived in the United States their entire lives. Zongxee is passionate about making sure people continue to use the traditional Hmong chicken soup. She thought having scientific names of the herbs could help people who are a little more skeptical of traditional medicine.

The Lee family reached out to Natalie Hoidal at the University of Minnesota Extension, who in turn, reached out to Crum. Crum set out with a team of undergraduate students including Annika Smeenk, Sophie Naylor, and Adiel Andino-Acevedo, and lab technician Zack Radford, to help the Lees identify the scientific names of the medicinal plants. The team identified the plants scientifically using the process of DNA barcoding where researchers look at a plant’s genetic sequence, or code, and compare it to the genetic sequence of previously identified and studied plants. It’s kind of like comparing the fingerprints of different species. 

Alex Crum (left) and undergraduate Sophie Naylor (right). Photo credit: Lindsey Miller

When they weren’t in the lab looking at DNA, the team was at the Lee family’s farm. Crum would wander the rows of plants as the Lees shared their knowledge of the medical plants and inquired about them from a scientific perspective. “It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever been part of,” Crum shared. 

Alex Crum (left), Zongxee Lee (center), Mayyia Lee (right). Photo credit: Lindsey Miller

Science and scientific classification, albeit useful, is only one type of knowledge. Having a deep understanding of our environment requires us to integrate multiple viewpoints, including traditional and cultural perspectives. The aim of this work was not to minimize the validity of knowledge that the Hmong farmers hold — instead the work Crum and her team did added another useful perspective. Identifying the scientific names of the plants enabled researchers, hospitals, farmers, and others to be able to cross-check information about the plants with years of scientific research on their safety and other potential uses.

Currently, the Lees and the team of researchers are working to compile a recipe book of Hmong traditional recipes that will include the postpartum chicken soup — with the traditional Hmong and scientific names of the ingredients alongside each other. Additionally, the book will include May Lee’s memoir. The book — tentatively titled Tshuaj Ntsuab: A Compendium of Hmong Medicinal Plants — is being published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press, with a draft currently in for edits.