Family Recipes For Success

Tuan Nguyen and his wife Helen move in concert through their kitchen, weaving gracefully by simmering woks and bubbling pots of noodles. Though Nguyen admits they had to adjust to the small space.

“It took us a few months to get used to,” Nguyen says. “Me and my wife have to learn how to move without bumping into each other and how to organize stuff that helps us make food faster.”

They’re trying to get dinner on the table quickly, but it’s not for themselves. Nguyen and his wife are the owners of Chopsticks, a food truck in Pflugerville. And while the business is relatively new, the idea has been simmering in Nguyen’s mind for years, finally culminating in a menu that showcases his family’s pan-Asian heritage.

“It’s not just about cooking,” Nguyen says. “It’s about culture.”

Chopsticks owner and chef Tuan Nguyen chops daikon in preparation for the lunch rush. Nguyen discovered his love of cooking in college while working at a restaurant.

Both Nguyen’s cooking and culture can be traced back to the Sichuan province in China, where his grandfather Giai Nguyen was born. Giai brought his hometown flavors to Vietnam, where he met Nguyen’s grandmother. They settled near Hanoi, an area where Nguyen says “so many traditional Vietnamese dishes came from,” where they raised his father River. Nguyen’s family eventually moved to Dong Nai in the southeast part of Vietnam. Flavors from all these different regions suffused Nguyen’s childhood. He recalls an early foray making one of his grandfather’s recipes: beef mango, a savory stir fry radiating a signature Sichuan heat. Nguyen thought he nailed it.

“I thought everything was a ten out of ten, but it was not,” Nguyen says. “It was like two, three out of ten.”

Nguyen said his grandfather pointed out what was wrong with the dish. While he was disappointed, he didn’t get discouraged.

“At first I was upset, for sure,” Nguyen says. “But I take his advice and keep improving.”

Nguyen (center) sits by his grandfather Giai Nguyen (left). Originally from the Sichuan province in China, Nguyen’s grandfather taught him several family recipes. Photo courtesy of Tuan Nguyen.

Cooking was a hobby, but it didn’t become a career path until college. Nguyen was studying sports medicine. He picked up a part-time job at a small family-owned restaurant, and it was here he found his calling while making an order of Vegetable Delight.

“They pushed me because they really needed a cook at the moment,” Nguyen says. “The head chef was standing right beside me watching me cook.”

Nguyen recalls watching as the meal was delivered to the customer, a regular who ate there often. He watched as the patron took a bite, and his reaction was … nothing. Nguyen was elated.

“They just assumed that the head chef had made it,” Nguyen says. “I was so happy about that.”

Nguyen’s family moved to the United States in 2014 but his college courses wouldn’t transfer. Rather than start over again, Nguyen opted to go into the culinary field so he could quickly start helping his family pay the bills. He moved through every station at a restaurant: server, dishwasher, chef, and eventually manager. By 2020, he and his family were in Texas and considering opening their own place. Then the pandemic hit, upending their economic stability. Nguyen, his parents and his brother all lost their jobs.

“I had to start doing other stuff like rideshare for Lyft, Uber, just to pay rent,” Nguyen says. “It was really stressful.”

Nguyen (left) finishes breakfast with his wife Helen (right) before opening the food truck. They had discussed opening their own restaurant before COVID hit and they lost their jobs.

Nguyen continued to cook, but instead of feeding the dinner crowd, he was feeding his family. They took turns making family dinners, sharing their favorite Vietnamese comfort foods. But Nguyen hadn’t let go of his dream to open a restaurant.

“I was waiting and hoping that COVID would soon [be] over, so I hopefully can start my business,” Nguyen says. “Finally, I was able to do it.”

With enough money saved up, Nguyen was able to purchase a trailer and open Chopsticks last year with his wife and brother. The menu boasts items from China, Vietnam, Korea and Thailand, but the most popular items are his family recipes, including his grandfather’s dish that used to give him trouble.

“Pork Sparerib Bowl and Beef Mango,” Nguyen says. “Those are two most popular items that we have so far.”

Nguyen serves up dishes alongside his wife Helen. They joke that she knows some of the recipes better than he does now. Helen says the best part of the job is seeing patrons enjoy their cooking.

“I’m so glad and grateful when [customers] leave a good review for Chopsticks,” she says. “Plus spending time with my husband.”

Nguyen hopes to expand the restaurant into a brick and mortar location in the future. He also hopes more space will mean more menu items–Nguyen worked in a Japanese restaurant for a brief period and loves making sushi. But right now he’s thrilled to share his family recipes with the world.

“My parents, my grandparents, they love cooking but they never were able to make it to be like a professional cook,” Nguyen says. “They’re really happy and glad that I made it.”

A bowl of pork spare ribs sits in the window of the Chopsticks food truck.

Nguyen’s grandfather passed away before Chopsticks opened, so he never had a chance to see the recipes he carried from China presented to his family’s community in Pflugerville. Nguyen knows he’d be proud to see his business. But asked what rating he thinks his grandfather would give his dishes now?

“I would say nine [out of ten],” Nguyen says. “But if he was here he may give me like, six, seven.”