Vanessa and Kim Pham want to take down the grocery store “ethnic aisle” with their Asian pantry brand, Omsom, a collection of delicious and delightfully branded sauces in ready-to-use packets. Their collection of tradition-inspired starters were developed to counter the “diluted and old-school” products found in their local grocery while they were growing up in Massachusetts.
Leaving corporate roles behind, Omsom’s founders dove headfirst into market research—taking into account the United States’s growing immigrant and first-generation population and the ingrained education of Asian cuisine in American life. They found that households wanting to explore Asian cooking were often intimidated by the number of pantry items—spices, oils, vinegars, etc.—needed to recreate their favorite dishes. Or that fellow adult first-gen children, like themselves, found interpreting their mom’s “to taste” or “eyeballed” measurements did not translate to cooking that tasted like home.
“We call them tastemakers because they are of these backgrounds, and that was fundamental to our business from day one,” said Vanessa. “We’re Vietnamese so we can’t purport to know Thai or Korean food.”
While each sauce has been delicious in its own right, it’s Omsom’s rowdy approach to identity—with impossible-to-miss neon packaging and an unapologetic use of language—that sparks the most joy (and sense of solidarity) in my own Asian-American kitchen. The volume is intentional, with the brand’s name, Omsom, being a take on the Vietnamese phrase om sòm, meaning rambunctious or noisy.
“We wanted proud and loud in-your-face energy,” said Kim. “Asians have been flattened with being called invisible or submissive—we wanted to give the middle finger to the model minority myth.”
Omsom’s upcoming venture feels equally boundary-pushing: MSG. Working with Pepper Teigen (mother of Chrissy and a master chef in her own right) and Japanese MSG makers Ajinomoto, Omsom will release a starter based on a Teigen family recipe this spring. The saucy collaboration—paired with the educational hub KnowMSG.com—is a clapback at the xenophobic demonization of monosodium glutamate, with the flavor enhancer listed as a primary ingredient.
“It will proudly and loudly state that it includes MSG,” said Kim. “We’re reclaiming the narrative around it.”
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