A Conversation with Food Content Creator and Lao Cuisine Champion Chef Saeng Douangdara

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 14! Our guest today is Chef Saeng Douangdara. He’s a food content creator, social media star, and soon-to-be cookbook author. Saeng specializes in Lao cuisine. A first-generation Lao American, he left a job in counseling to pursue his passion for teaching Lao cuisine. 

A trip back to Laos helped him reconnect with his roots and learn more about both the history and culture of Lao food, and that’s when he decided to launch his personal chef business, Saeng’s Kitchen and leverage social media to raise awareness about Lao cuisine. He may have started small, but he’s amassed over 700K followers and millions of views on his different social media channels.

We love how his work is educational, and it’s resonating with others. He’s been featured in numerous publications including Delish, Buzzfeed, the New York Times, and LA Times. He’s even won an episode of the TBS cooking competition show, Rat In The Kitchen. Chef Saeng is outspoken in advocating, uplifting, and raising awareness of the depth and wonder of Lao cuisine. 

In our conversation, we talk about what Lao cuisine is known for, launching Saeng’s Kitchen, being Lao American, his upcoming book, and so much more. And yes, we do ask him to reflect on the Uncle Roger incident. To learn more about Saeng, or to be inspired by his recipe posts, blogs, and videos, we recommend visiting his website Saeng’s Kitchen, his YouTube Channel, or his Instagram page. You can even take a food tour to Laos with Saeng in October! 

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