WEBVTT
00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:04.322
Food is all about connection.
00:00:04.322 --> 00:00:06.762
I know for me, the taste
of a piping hot Earl Grey
00:00:06.762 --> 00:00:09.287
always reminds me of comfort
and the security of home.
00:00:09.287 --> 00:00:11.913
And, you know, particularly
when we feel disconnected,
00:00:11.913 --> 00:00:14.610
that taste can mean everything.
NOTE Paragraph
00:00:14.610 --> 00:00:18.487
However, there are some people
who simply cannot go home.
NOTE Paragraph
00:00:18.487 --> 00:00:19.708
People like the Uyghurs,
00:00:19.708 --> 00:00:21.613
a Muslim minority group
from Western China.
NOTE Paragraph
00:00:21.613 --> 00:00:24.521
Isobel Yeung went there undercover
last year to report on camps
00:00:24.521 --> 00:00:26.888
where China has imprisoned
more than a million Uyghurs
00:00:26.888 --> 00:00:29.941
to quote unquote "re-educate"
them away from their traditions.
NOTE Paragraph
00:00:29.941 --> 00:00:32.289
One of these traditions is
their distinctly unique cuisine
00:00:32.289 --> 00:00:33.339
and style of cooking.
NOTE Paragraph
00:00:33.339 --> 00:00:36.101
And for the more than one million
Uyghurs now living outside of China,
00:00:36.101 --> 00:00:37.576
it's never been more important.
NOTE Paragraph
00:00:39.079 --> 00:00:41.886
PRESERVING CULTURE
NOTE Paragraph
00:00:45.870 --> 00:00:47.937
So what's the secret
to making good laghman?
NOTE Paragraph
00:00:48.057 --> 00:00:50.572 line:1
(Maria) The dough
has to be prepared right.
NOTE Paragraph
00:00:57.678 --> 00:00:59.394
(Ysobel) Who taught you
how to do this?
NOTE Paragraph
00:00:59.394 --> 00:01:01.034
(Maria) My mom.
00:01:01.034 --> 00:01:04.681
(Adila) We grow up eating laghman,
making laghman.
NOTE Paragraph
00:01:04.681 --> 00:01:07.339 line:1
(Maria) In my country, I was a nurse.
00:01:07.696 --> 00:01:11.612 line:1
[After] coming to America,
[I became] a restaurant chef.
NOTE Paragraph
00:01:13.520 --> 00:01:14.743
(Ysobel) Oh, my god.
NOTE Paragraph
00:01:27.608 --> 00:01:29.273
(Ysobel) Wow, perfect!
00:01:29.651 --> 00:01:33.418
Oh, my god, that texture is amazing,
they're like the perfect consistency.
00:01:33.688 --> 00:01:35.947
Uyghur food is really interesting
because it does seem
00:01:35.947 --> 00:01:38.633
like a mix of different types of foods.
NOTE Paragraph
00:01:38.633 --> 00:01:39.523
Yes.
NOTE Paragraph
00:01:39.523 --> 00:01:41.913
Like, there's definitely
some Chinese elements in there
00:01:41.913 --> 00:01:44.218
with noodles, and garlic, and ginger,
00:01:44.218 --> 00:01:47.101
but then there's also a lot of like
Central Asian flavors, right?
NOTE Paragraph
00:01:48.721 --> 00:01:51.495
(Ysobel) Adila and her mom,
Maria, are Uyghurs.
00:01:51.495 --> 00:01:54.888
They come from north-west China
in a region called Xinjian.
00:01:55.459 --> 00:01:59.181
Unlike the majority of China's population
who are Han Chinese,
00:01:59.181 --> 00:02:02.201
the Uyghurs are mostly
Muslim Turkic ethnicity
00:02:02.201 --> 00:02:05.917
who have their own language and
traditions much closer to Central Asia.
00:02:06.365 --> 00:02:10.137
My favorite Uyghur dish
is laghman or lamian,
00:02:10.137 --> 00:02:14.898
hand-pulled noodles served with meat,
pepper, scallions, cumin, and spices.
NOTE Paragraph
00:02:18.925 --> 00:02:21.254
What does the lamian mean to you?
NOTE Paragraph
00:02:21.254 --> 00:02:25.422 line:1
Laghman is a traditional dish
passed down from the ancestors.
00:02:25.422 --> 00:02:31.204 line:1
That is also why we teach our children
how to make laghman and tell them,
00:02:31.204 --> 00:02:33.798 line:1
"Don't forget Uyghur culture.
00:02:34.270 --> 00:02:37.132 line:1
Remember us when you are making laghman."
NOTE Paragraph
00:02:42.761 --> 00:02:45.343
Thank you, bye.
Have a good one. Thank you.
NOTE Paragraph
00:02:45.994 --> 00:02:49.546
(Ysobel) Adila moved from China
to Boston to study when she was 17.
00:02:50.179 --> 00:02:51.561
Almost a decade later,
00:02:51.561 --> 00:02:55.254
she opened the only Uyghur restaurant
in Massachusetts at the time,
00:02:55.254 --> 00:02:57.507
with dishes based on her mom's recipes.
00:03:00.008 --> 00:03:04.596
During that time, Uyghur lives in China
have deteriorated dramatically.
00:03:05.165 --> 00:03:08.365
In an effort to, in their words,
"combat terrorism,"
00:03:08.365 --> 00:03:11.468
the Chinese government
has sent over one million Uyghurs
00:03:11.468 --> 00:03:15.275
to sprawling prison-like camps
over the last three years.
00:03:15.653 --> 00:03:18.559
Here they're frequently
interrogated and tortured,
00:03:18.713 --> 00:03:20.472
banned from practicing Islam,
00:03:20.723 --> 00:03:23.826
and forced to recite
Chinese Communist Party ideology.
00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:29.623
Xinjian has been transformed
into a dystopian surveillance state.
NOTE Paragraph
00:03:30.654 --> 00:03:34.169
Maria and Adila's own family
have been swept up in the crackdown.
00:03:35.290 --> 00:03:38.593
In 2018, Adila's father--
Maria's husband,
00:03:38.593 --> 00:03:40.202
stopped answering their calls.
00:03:40.790 --> 00:03:44.019
Eventually, they learned
he too had been taken to the camps.
NOTE Paragraph
00:03:44.783 --> 00:03:47.217 line:1
My family are on my mind
and in front of my eyes
00:03:47.217 --> 00:03:48.709 line:1
all the time when I'm working.
00:03:48.709 --> 00:03:52.224 line:1
If I don't think about them,
I might lose my motivation.
00:03:57.657 --> 00:04:00.007 line:1
The father of my children is in jail.
NOTE Paragraph
00:04:08.504 --> 00:04:11.794
(Ysobel) When Adila is not working
in her restaurant six days a week,
00:04:11.794 --> 00:04:15.416
she's searching for any information
she can find about her dad.
NOTE Paragraph
00:04:15.416 --> 00:04:18.340 line:1
This is my father, born in 1971.
NOTE Paragraph
00:04:18.340 --> 00:04:21.717
What did he tell you about
how the situation is changing in Xinjian?
NOTE Paragraph
00:04:21.717 --> 00:04:25.995
He's like, you know,
we can't talk directly.
NOTE Paragraph
00:04:25.995 --> 00:04:29.025
We always said, cold or warm.
NOTE Paragraph
00:04:29.025 --> 00:04:31.422
Because he's worried about
the Chinese government listening?
NOTE Paragraph
00:04:31.422 --> 00:04:32.193
Yeah.
NOTE Paragraph
00:04:32.193 --> 00:04:37.318
And if anyone get detained,
they would say, "He left."
NOTE Paragraph
00:04:38.686 --> 00:04:41.993
My father always call me [inaudible].
NOTE Paragraph
00:04:42.920 --> 00:04:47.610 line:1
(Adila's father recording)
Adi hun. Adi hun. Adi hun.
00:04:48.770 --> 00:04:53.299 line:1
I miss you, Adi hun.
00:04:53.803 --> 00:04:56.123 line:1
Adi hun, my child.
00:04:56.302 --> 00:04:57.955 line:1
Adi hun, my child.
NOTE Paragraph
00:04:58.518 --> 00:04:59.651
I like it a lot.
NOTE Paragraph
00:05:03.280 --> 00:05:06.696
(Ysobel) Uyghurs is China can be
locked away for anything from praying,
00:05:06.696 --> 00:05:07.879
wearing a long beard,
00:05:07.879 --> 00:05:09.730
or having relatives abroad.
00:05:09.730 --> 00:05:13.220
In Adila's father's case,
it was for fasting during Ramadan.
NOTE Paragraph
00:05:14.811 --> 00:05:17.410
What do you think
your dad's life is like, right now?
NOTE Paragraph
00:05:17.645 --> 00:05:20.903
Oh, I don't want to think about this
like, it's very hard.
00:05:20.903 --> 00:05:22.753
I get scared, you know.
00:05:27.354 --> 00:05:29.264
He can't eat a proper meal.
00:05:29.496 --> 00:05:32.390
My mom cooked for him every day.
00:05:32.962 --> 00:05:35.294
I can't think about what he's eating now.
NOTE Paragraph
00:05:36.246 --> 00:05:39.603
(Ysobel) Last year, Adila took part
in a social media campaign
00:05:39.603 --> 00:05:41.327
called #MetooUyghur.
00:05:41.327 --> 00:05:44.132
She's also given testimony
about her missing relatives
00:05:44.132 --> 00:05:47.032
and lobbied Senators
like Elizabeth Warren,
00:05:47.032 --> 00:05:50.236
but speaking out has exposed her
on Chinese social media.
NOTE Paragraph
00:05:50.236 --> 00:05:56.726
I was dragged into a WeChat group
with 500 Chinese there.
00:05:57.265 --> 00:06:00.778
They were seeing me like I'm a terrorist,
00:06:00.778 --> 00:06:03.931
and they post all the information
about the restaurant,
00:06:03.931 --> 00:06:05.568
my personal information,
00:06:05.568 --> 00:06:07.096
where did I go to school,
00:06:07.096 --> 00:06:10.471
where do I live, my car, everything.
NOTE Paragraph
00:06:11.314 --> 00:06:12.977
Wow, that must've been scary.
NOTE Paragraph
00:06:12.977 --> 00:06:15.034
I was so scared.
NOTE Paragraph
00:06:20.474 --> 00:06:23.337
(Ysobel) In spite of the threats,
or maybe because of them,
00:06:23.337 --> 00:06:27.010
the work that Adila, Maria, and
chef Arkin are doing at the restaurant
00:06:27.010 --> 00:06:29.504
feels more important now than ever.
NOTE Paragraph
00:06:30.020 --> 00:06:31.625
Wow, that's one massive noodle!
NOTE Paragraph
00:06:31.883 --> 00:06:35.465
Just having a restaurant like this
advertising Halal food
00:06:35.465 --> 00:06:37.673
is no longer allowed in Xinjiang.
NOTE Paragraph
00:06:37.868 --> 00:06:39.913
It seems like for all of you,
00:06:39.913 --> 00:06:41.856
you know, having this Uyghur restaurant,
00:06:41.856 --> 00:06:45.430
is so much more than
just about selling the food.
00:06:45.430 --> 00:06:48.980
It's about introducing a culture
and making sure it stays alive.
NOTE Paragraph
00:06:49.228 --> 00:06:53.029
(Adila) There are many many jobs
we can make money, like easier jobs.
00:06:53.179 --> 00:06:54.967
A restaurant is really hard,
00:06:54.967 --> 00:06:56.598
every day,
00:06:56.598 --> 00:06:57.858
a year long.
NOTE Paragraph
00:06:58.159 --> 00:06:59.645
If you like my food,
00:06:59.645 --> 00:07:01.483
if you like me,
00:07:01.483 --> 00:07:05.332
this is the way that you get
into Uyghur people.