Food is all about connection.
I know for me, the taste of a piping hot Earl Grey
always reminds me of comfort and security of home.
And, you know, particularly when we feel disconnected,
that taste can mean everything.
However, there are some people who simply cannot go home.
People like the Uyghurs,
a Muslim minority group from Western China.
Isobel Yeung went there undercover last year to report on camps
where China has imprisoned more than a million Uyghurs
To quote unquote re-educate them away from their traditions.
One of these traditions is their distinctly unique cuisine
and style of cooking.
And for the more than 1 million Uyghurs now living outside of China,
it's never been more important.
PRESERVING CULTURE
So what's the secret to making good laghman?
The dough has to be prepared right.
Who taught you how to do this?
My mom.
We grow up eating laghman, making laghman.
In my country, I was a nurse.
[After] coming to America, [I became] a restaurant chef.
(Ysobel) Oh, my god.
Wow, perfect.
Oh, my god, that texture is amazing, they're like the perfect consistency.
Uyghur food is really interesting because it does seem
like a mix of different types of foods.
Yes.
There's definitely some Chinese elements in there
with noodles, and garlic, and ginger,
but then there's also a lot of like Central Asian flavors, right?
(Ysobel) Adila and her mom, Maria, are Uyghurs.
They come from Northwest China in a region called Xinjian.
Unlike the majority of China's population who are Han Chinese,
The Uyghurs are mostly Muslim Turkic ethnicity
who have their own language and traditions much closer to Central Asia.
My favorite Uyghur dish is laghmen or lamian,
hand-pulled noodles served with meat, pepper, scallions, cumin, and spices.
What does the laghmen mean to you?
Laghmen is a traditional dish passed down from the ancestors.
That is also why we teach our children how to make laghmen and tell them,
"Don't forget Uyghur culture.
Remember us when you are making laghmen."
Thank you, bye. Have a good one. Thank you.
(Ysobel) Adhila moved from China to Boston to study when she was 17,
almost a decade later,
she opened the only Uyghur restaurant in Massachusetts at the time,
with dishes based on her mom's recipes.
During that time, Uyghur lives in China have deteriorated dramatically.
In an effort to, in their words, "combat terrorism,"
The Chinese government has sent over 1 million Uyghurs
to sprawling prison like camps over the last three years.
Here they're frequently interrogated and tortured, banned from practicing Islam,
and forced to recite Chinese Communist Party ideology.
Xinjian has been transformed into a dystopian surveillance state.
Maria and Adila's own family have been swept up in the crackdown.
In 2018, Adila's father-- Maria's husband,
stopped answering their calls.
Eventually, they learned he too had been taken to the camps.
My family are on my mind and in from of my eyes
all the time when I'm working.
If I don't think about them, I might lose my motivation.
The father of my children is in jail.
(Ysobel) When Adila is not working in her restaurant six days a week,
She's searching for any information she can find about her dad.
This is my father, born in 1971.
What did he tell you about how the situation is changing in Xinjian?
He's like, you know, we can't talk directly.
We always said, cold or warm.
Because he's worried about the Chinese government listening?
Yeah.
And if anyone get detained, they would say, "He left."
My father always call me [the favorite tree.]
(Adila's father) Adi hun. Adi hun. Adi hun.
I miss you, Adi hun.
Adi hun, my child.
I like it a lot.
(Ysobel) Uyghurs is China can be locked away for anything from praying,
wearing a long beard or having relatives abroad.
In our dealers father's case, it was for fasting during Ramadan.
What do you think your dad's life is like, right now?
Oh, I don't want to think about this, it's very hard.
I get scared, you know.
He can't eat proper food meal.
My mom cooked for him every day.
I can't think about what he's eating now.
(Ysobel) Last year, Adila took part in a social media campaign
called #MetooUyghur.
She's also given testimony about her missing relatives
and lobbied Senators, like, Elizabeth Warren,
but speaking out has exposed her on Chinese social media.
I was dragged in a WeChat group with 500 Chinese there.
They were like seeing me like I'm a terrorist,
and they post all the information about the restaurant,
my personal information,
where did I go to school, where do I live, my car, everything.
Wow, that must've been scary.
I was so scared.
In spite of the threats or maybe because of them,
the work that I dealer. Maria, and Chef Arkin are doing at the restaurant,
feels more important now than ever.
Just having a restaurant like this advertising halal food
is no longer allowed in xinjiang.
It seems like for all of you,
you know, having this we go restaurant is so much more than just
about selling the food.
It's about introducing, a culture and making sure it stays alive.
The many many jobs we can make money, like easier, job restaurant is really hard
every day a year long.
If you like my foot,
if you like me, this is the way that you get into. We were people