CONNECTICUT, USA — When it comes to Asian dishes, it is all about the savory flavors.
In this week's series celebrating Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, FOX61's Carmen Chau highlighted food and lifestyle.
"Many people get to see what multicultural looks like in this bakery," said Khamla Vorasane, owner of Bounom Bakery.
Tucked away in a busy shopping center of Avon is Bounom Bakery.
From pastries to sandwiches to beverages, it has kept people coming back for a taste of cultural cuisine.
Owned by Khamla Vorasane, the bakery was a final product that contained two of her favorite things - French cuisine and making sweet treats from scratch.
Following Asian recipes, each bite contained small amounts of sugar but still satisfied a big craving.
"If you’re familiar with the Asian style … growing up, you have cooked bananas with sticky rice and coconut together as a dessert, so I thought why not infuse it with French-American style?" added Vorasane.
Her parents, Bou and Nom traveled 9,000 miles to the United States in 1981 as refugees from Laos and eventually settled in Texas.
They brought with them their grit and determination, traits that have not been forgotten by Vorsane as a Laotian-American.
"For the longest time, we kept quiet about microaggression happening to us. We know people do different stereotypes and we just let it go and when you do that, it becomes realism to certain people," added Vorasane.
The next stop on this delicious endeavor around the world was India.
"We use close to 70, 80 different spices," said Ganesh Aryal, owner of Taste of India.
Aryal is originally from Nepal and he said Indian food is all about the spices.
Behind every juicy dish is the skills and talent of his chefs all squeezed into a small kitchen in the back of the restaurant.
Some seem to think Indian food is always spicy, but Aryal said that is not true.
The number of spices mixed in their dishes depends on how well a customer handles the fiery taste.
"Some spices, we create ourselves here. We buy the royal spices and we roast it, we ground it, we put together and we make our own flavor as well," added Aryal.
The number one rule at Taste of India is the aroma from the kitchen should always travel to the customers' noises before the food arrives.
The last stop to bring some Asian flair stateside is China.
Within the hustle and bustle of Downtown New Haven is a gift shop called Uni-Home Life on Chapel Street.
Opened in October of last year, the shop has brought out the kid in everyone.
"I used to think this stuff is cute for me, for us … for Asian people, but I was actually wrong!" said Ting Lin, manager of Uni-Home Life.
From plushies to electronic accessories to snacks, Lin shared a piece of Asia's cuteness culture.
Stores like these are usually only seen in large cities and Lin wanted to change that.
"I felt like this city still lacked a bit of Asian culture because I used to go back to New York a lot just to shop this kind of stuff," added Lin.
The growing influence of East Asian pop culture has marked its territory in the Elm City.
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