The Filipino American Student Association, the Vietnamese Student Association and the Chinese Student Association brought their unique flavors to one of Tucson’s biggest foodie events last weekend.
The student groups set up tents and cooking stations alongside Samurai Sombrero and Solid Grindz Hawaiian BBQ at last weekend’s Tucson Meet Yourself, offering traditional dishes that reflected their heritage.
The annual festival has become a beloved tradition in Southern Arizona, where diverse communities come together to celebrate their cultures through food, music, art and dance. This year, the 51st iteration of the festival took place Oct. 4-6 at Jácome Plaza downtown.
Food takes center stage at the folklife festival, with everything from Mexican and Native American to Asian and Mediterranean.
The Filipino American Student Association booth featured a colorful display of photos of the group as well as their menu for the festival.
The Filipino American Student Association brought the flavors of the Philippines to Tucson Meet Yourself. Their booth featured an array of traditional Filipino foods including pork skewers, lumpia, sinangag and bibingka.
“This is how we are going to fund our activities for the rest of the year,” said member Emilie Mak, a junior studying management information systems.
Mak said that her favorite item on the menu is the lumpia, a version of a spring roll made with ground pork, peas, carrots and cabbage.
“It’s really fun to put together,” she said. “We do prep nights where we roll our lumpia, and it’s a bonding activity.”
Beyond the food, Mak said it was a valuable experience for the organization to run the booth at Tucson Meet Yourself.
“You never think about everything that goes into it, like all the logistics that you have to consider,” she said. “I think it’s a great experience for people to run a booth, but also to just walk around and have fun here.”
Customers place their orders at the Vietnamese Student Association booth, while others walk away with Vietnamese coffee and limeade.
The Vietnamese Student Association booth served up classic Vietnamese dishes including skewers, banh mi, bun thit nuong and egg rolls.
“This is one of our biggest events of the year,” said member Betrina Hoang, a sophomore studying pre-nursing and biology. “The whole point of the Vietnamese Student Association is to spread Vietnamese heritage into the Tucson community and create a safe space for Vietnamese Americans at the University of Arizona.”
Hoang said that the festival has been a regular event for the club since 2016, and a beloved one at that.
“It’s a tradition, and people really look forward to it every single year,” said Kathy Nguyen, a senior majoring in public health.
Preparing for the event is a labor of love, with the students making thousands of skewers and hundreds of egg rolls by hand.
“It’s really hectic, but it’s a way to bring us all together,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen said her favorite offering on the menu is the banh mi, a popular Vietnamese sandwich made with a crispy baguette filled with either pork or chicken, jalapeños, cucumbers, cilantro and pickled carrots and daikon.
“It’s really, really good,” she said.
For both Hoang and Nguyen, Tucson Meet Yourself is an opportunity to foster cultural exchange with the community by sharing signature dishes.
“One thing I love about Tucson Meet Yourself is being able to share Vietnamese culture and our food with the Tucson community,” said Nguyen.
“I think we are the only Vietnamese booth at this entire festival, so we represent our entire community,” said Hoang.
A group of festivalgoers explore the menu posted at the Chinese Student Association booth.
The Chinese Student Association brought the flavors of Hong Kong, serving popular dishes including bubble waffles, Hong Kong-style french toast and boba milk tea.
“We are selling Hong Kong fair-type food,” said member Kieran Lee, a senior majoring in East Asian studies with a minor in Asian Pacific American studies.
The club’s booth provided an opportunity for students to connect with their cultural roots while paving the way for the rest of the year.
“This is a fundraising event for us, it’s probably our biggest one of the year,” said Lee.
Lee said his favorite item on the menu is the Hong Kong-style french toast.
“We deep-fry Texas toast with peanut butter, and then add butter, evaporated milk and chocolate syrup. It’s really sweet, but it’s pretty good,” he said.
For more information on these student groups, check out @csa.arizona, @vsa.uarizona and @uafasa on Instagram.
Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.
