An Interview with Saeng Douangdara from the TBS Culinary Competition Series “Rat in the Kitchen”
“Rat in the Kitchen” is a game of high stakes cat and mouse where viewers get to play detective. Over the course of the 10-episode season, a mix of professional chefs and passionate home cooks compete in a series of creative cooking challenges, earning cash in their bank for every dish that impresses Chef Ludo, while attempting to expose an undercover mole (the rat) determined to sabotage the dishes and undermine their chances at victory. At the close of each episode, both cooks and viewers will determine who they believe is the rat. If the cooks guess correctly, they win their bank but if successfully duped, then the rat walks away with the cheddar.
Saeng Douangdara is a Los Angeles based cooking instructor and personal chef. He was born in a refugee camp in Southeast Asia after his parents fled Laos. He was raised in Wisconsin. For over 5 years, Saeng worked in higher education as a counselor. During his time as a counselor, he nurtured his love of cooking and teaching. He decided to pursue his food ventures full-time and headed out to Laos for the first time for a full month to learn more about the food of his country.
With his education in understanding the significance of foods in underrepresented communities and promoting a holistic balanced mental and physical health, he has combined his passion in cooking and teaching in his interactive lectures about food.
He has published food photography artwork in magazines, lectured at universities, provided cooking lessons across large food retailers, and cooked for Hollywood events. His philosophy around cooking is to make it approachable, educational, and fun! He hopes to use food as a catalyst to teach people about the history and cultures of underrepresented communities. Saeng was also a member of the first Lao Food Retreat and is a member of the Lao Food Foundation Advisory Council.
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Q: We have been cheering you on as we watch Rat in the Kitchen. Tell us about how you secured a coveted spot as a contestant on the show!
Lao food helped me get on the show! It was my social media platform that I built by showcasing my love for Lao food and the Lao community and it caught the attention of a casting executive. After hearing about the show, it interested me and I decided to submit an application. I found out the news I was going to be on the show right after I published a thum mak hoong-papaya salad recipe video. I was very excited because this was my first cooking competition show.
Q: What has your experience been like compared to what you initially expected?
My experience on the show was even better than expected. I won’t ruin it here for people that haven’t watched, but please check out the show. My mission going into the competition was to bring my full authentic self, including my experience with Lao food. After filming, I learned that these productions take a whole team: camera people, make-up crew, producers, set designers, and more. It was a lot of work; we started the day early and ended late. What really supported me in this production was my past experience of filming my YouTube videos as that helped me feel more comfortable and natural on camera.
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Q: Of course we want to talk about Lao food! Tell us about how you've incorporated Lao food knowledge into your dishes on the show.
The night before filming, I wrote out Lao foods I could make with substitutions depending on the pantry of the show. Some foods that came to mind were: laab, thum mak hoong, jeows, and gaengs. It changed very quickly when we were filming because it was a fast-paced environment and I had to think on my feet. With only 40 minutes to cook and a limited pantry, I came up with Lao sausage. I made a wonton version on the spot because we didn’t have any sausage casing and there would not be enough time to make an actual sausage. I was worried how it would turn out because the challenge involved a rotation of cooks so it was very much a collaborative cooking experience that helped get it on the plate. I prepped and seasoned the ground pork and other cooks helped finish it by deep frying and making the dipping sauce. All that to say, Lao sausage wontons are now a classic for me!
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Q: We have loved watching your story focused cooking content gain overwhelming engagement over the last year. Now you're on Rat in the Kitchen! What's next for you?
With my shift to story-focused cooking content, I want to continue and expand my storytelling through a Lao cookbook. There are very limited Lao cookbooks available under publication companies, so I hope to add to the Lao culinary books. I am shopping around to find the right partnership and publication that believes in a Lao-centered cookbook filled with Lao food stories. Also, I hope to do more food-centered television productions in the near future. Stay tuned with all my future projects on my social media accounts on Tik Tok, Facebook, and Instagram at @saengdouangdara.
Tune In:
High-Stakes Cooking Competition Series "Rat in the Kitchen" premiered Thursday, March 31 on TBS at 9PM
Rat in the Kitchen will have a 10-episode run from March 31st through June 16th on TBS
“Rat in the Kitchen” is produced by ITV America’s Thinkfactory Media, in association with ITV Studios’ Possessed. It is executive produced by Adam Reed, Adam Freeman, Simon Thomas, Bernie Schaeffer, Kenny Rosen and Michael O’Sullivan for Thinkfactory, and by Glenn Hugill for Possessed. It is distributed internationally by ITV Studios.