When Bengali and Fujianese communities arrived in New York, they didn’t exactly have the warmest of welcomes. The Fujianese, for instance, were often at odds with their Cantonese cousins. The Fujianese that arrived in the US during the 1980s largely only spoke their native dialect and couldn’t communicate with the Cantonese, who also spoke their own dialect. Congregating in the same neighborhoods also meant competing for space, resources, and clientele.

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Before the 1980’s, there was an earlier migration of Bengalis, predominantly from what is now Bangladesh; many of them were sailors, peddlers, and ex-seamen from the British empire who decided to jump ship and settle in the U.S in places like Harlem, New Orleans and Detroit. At the time due to the racial dynamics of the United States, Bengalis found comfort and community within the Black and Puerto Rican communities of these cities and would often marry into them. They would still maintain extensive communication networks between themselves, helping newcomers find housing, work, and spouses. This network was already in place when the Diversity Visa Program lottery and the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 passed, so the first Bengalis of this new wave of immigration were able to take advantage of these networks and create a tight knit community.

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Often, these minorities within minority communities are grouped up in a monolithic way, and just as how it shows itself to us in our understanding of these communities, it can show itself in food as well. When you think of samosas or spring rolls, you’re usually thinking of versions of those dishes that are different from the Bengali or Fujianese versions. Bengali’s samosa is filled typically with a similarly spiced minced chicken filling to the one you are eating, as opposed to the potato filling you may be more familiar with, which is more common in other South Asian cultures, popularized by the classic Indian restaurant. The Chinese spring rolls you might be thinking of are usually fried and filled with some shredded vegetables and maybe some charsiu, but Fujianese spring rolls are not fried, they eat the wrappers as is, and wrap them with a mixture of bean sprouts, pressed tofu, chives, pork belly, and pickled radish. Interestingly enough, Fujianese and Bengali families will both swear by TYJ brand spring roll wrappers for these respective snacks. Growing up and helping your mom peel the wrappers to make samosas or spring rolls before big family events, or holidays is a core memory for many of us.