Article and Photos by Nicole Thom-Arens

Sue Willson came to the United States from Vietnam as a toddler, and she grew up learning how to create traditional Vietnamese flavors from classic American ingredients.

“My grandma was probably the founder of adapt,” Sue says. “She’s the one who taught us to use peanut butter and soy sauce and make this flavor and that flavor to imitate different Asian flavors.”

Since 2001, Sue has been sharing those same lessons with home cooks through cooking classes at Gourmet Chef on Main Street in downtown Minot.

“We’re traditionally a meat and potatoes society here in the Midwest, so it’s really nice [to offer non-traditional cooking classes],” Denise Lindbo, owner and manager of Gourmet Chef, says. “When people travel, they try different things from different areas, and then when they come back, they want to continue trying new things, so we offer them recipes, the chefs give them new ideas, new techniques, on being able to recreate some of those dishes they’ve tried somewhere else back here.”

Gourmet Chef offers cooking classes throughout the year, and many of them provide insight on international techniques and flavors including sushi and Mongolian stir-fry. One summer evening, Sue led a class of 16 home cooks through the secrets of stir-fry in the kitchen at Gourmet Chef using the same frying pans and utensils the cooks have in their own kitchens and using ingredients they can find in the local supermarket.

As Sue introduced the cooks to the items they’d find in the kitchen that night, she offered insight.

“Don’t cook meat and vegetables together, cook in layers, Chinese five spice powder is in many sauces at restaurants, peanut butter adds depth to stir-fry, and curry and turmeric always go together,” Sue added extra emphasis to the importance of the two spices being used in unison.

As the students created groups of four and began making their selections for the three dishes they’d make in the class, Sue moved through the kitchen tasting dishes and offering feedback.

“Did you add a lot of broth?” Sue asked one group as she tasted the curry. When the home cooks admitted to being heavy-handed with the ladle, Sue showed them how to use cornstarch and water to make a slurry that would thicken the sauce and cut the saltiness from the additional broth.

Delicious aromas filled the kitchen as each group experimented with sauces like Mongolian, curry, and citrus and hoisin.

“I’ve never successfully done curry, but I would definitely make this again,” Cassie Heald, home cook, says. Her cooking partners for the evening agreed it was the best dish of the night.   

Sue grew up in the kitchen cooking in ethnic restaurants owned by her aunt and uncle who opened the first Vietnamese restaurant in Oklahoma and went on to run Chinese, Thai, and authentic Mexican restaurants in the state. After marrying her husband, who later joined the Air Force, life led Sue to Japan, where she learned those cooking techniques during the four-year stay. She says she enjoys teaching people what she’s learned over the years.

“I like the challenge of feeling like I spread the love of a culture,” Sue explains. “It’s not just about spreading the flavor but teaching people how to adapt to their environment and still make great food.”   

Nicole Thom-Arens is a writer and an assistant professor of communication arts at Minot State University where she teaches journalism and communication theory courses and advises the student newspaper the Red & Green.