Standing in the kitchen one day, a young woman discovers that her tiny, elderly Hmong mother is not who she appears to be.
Yia grew up with a traditional mother who wanted her to marry, raise a family, tend a garden, and cook Hmong food. Yia wanted freedom. The two had little in common, except their opposition to each other.
In a seemingly ordinary moment in Mom's kitchen, Yia had a sudden awakening. She watched her mother move from pot to pot with the instinctive grace of a symphony conductor, knowing exactly how to bring out the best in every ingredient. As these moments repeated, they grew closer. Mom began to reveal her life, and with each meal prepared and memory shared, Yia's roots started to take shape in the family history she never knew.
In this epic mother-daughter love story, their parallel lives merge as each becomes the nutrient the other needs to navigate life's trials and guide one another back home. When Yia truly looked at her mother, she finally saw her for who she was: daughter, wife, mother, warrior, survivor, woman, Hmong.