Journey to Laos Without Leaving Rhode Island

Walking through the heavy, wooden door of Ting Barnard’s contemporary home on Providence’s East Side, a lush, green and colorful rainforest awaits. 

Ironically, a monsoon pelts driving rain outdoors as guests rush inside on an early December evening. Safe from torrential downpours, men and women hand over umbrellas and drenched coats and immerse themselves in a tropical oasis complete with a rain-beating soundtrack.

A sculptural floral arrangement hovers above the communal dining table set for twenty guests, adorned with gigantic leaves, grasses, banana clusters, orchids and blooms in vivid hues of magenta, orange and purple, designed by Providence-based floral artist Semia. Place settings are laid with delicate golden linen napkins, plates, glasses and cutlery, plus the moody glow of candlelight. A spicy, earthy aroma wafts from pots steaming on the stove in the kitchen. 

Conversation between Laotian women — dressed in crisp white shirts punctuated with black bow ties and black aprons — is heard as they cook and assemble the meal in front of the marble counter. There is a pot of sticky rice and a bamboo steamer basket filled with papaya salad, Laotian sausage, egg rolls, steak, fish and other meats on display. Guests sneak a peek while sipping gimlet cocktails made with basil and gin and garnished with a kaffir lime leaf.  

The Laotian dinner party is a celebration of Southeast Asian cuisine with a multicourse menu devised by Ting — dressed in a traditional red satin strapless dress with her midnight-black hair up in an elegant chignon — and executed by chef Pin Minyvong of Pin’s Kytchen, who changes from her chef’s coat into a radiant blue dress and stilettos for the dinner. 

Ting and her husband, Ian Barnard, are hosting the dinner to bring a sense of Laos back home to Ting’s mother, ThongKhanh Phommasith, as the family hasn’t been able to return to Laos for more than ten years. The event is also a fundraiser for Leadership Rhode Island, raising money for tuition assistance to give others with limited access a chance of success through the nearly yearlong leadership development program. 

The purpose of the celebration is to share the culture and cuisine of Laos with a community of family and friends, most of whom are experiencing it for the first time. 

“Many Laotian refugees have similar narratives — stories that powerfully reflect the struggles and victories of those who have traveled a comparable path. By sharing the rich culture of Laos, especially its cuisine, we can keep our heritage alive and honor those who have faced similar challenges,” Ting says. “We aim to share recipes that showcase bold, exotic flavors and aromas and share visuals of Laos, allowing others to truly appreciate the vibrancy and richness of our culture and its people.”

Ting stands at the center of the table and explains how the idea for the dinner party came together. “I wanted you all to be here tonight to celebrate Laotian culture, to see the resiliency of our community,” she says. 

Both Ting and Pin share inspiring stories of their families’ immigrations from Laos to the United States. Ting’s mother, ThongKhanh, and father, Viengkhone Phommasith, fled the Laotian Civil War in 1981 when she was just a year old and her sister was three. Ting’s father carried her across the Mekong River into Thailand, where they lived in a refugee camp. While awaiting resettlement, they underwent medical evaluations and background checks, and once approved, were flown to the United States on organized flights facilitated by the United States government and NGOs. 

When they landed, they were paired with independent Christian sponsors Charlie and Jean Rogers, who were American-Canadian dual citizens living in Framingham, Massachusetts. The family was granted government assistance and lived in Allston in an apartment paid for by the Rogers family while Ting’s father worked in restaurants and learned to speak English. Her father later earned his GED from Bunker Hill Community College and became a machinist, then landed a job at Marshall & Williams in Woonsocket. 

The parents, then with four children, ages seven, five, three and one, moved to Providence, where they still live. Ting’s father earned United States citizenship in 1996, and the family put all four children through high school and college, which led them all into successful careers. 

Ting is a philanthropist who serves as a board member for Leadership Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Philharmonic and Papitto Opportunity Connection, a private foundation dedicated to working with other nonprofits that are committed to serving communities most in need in Rhode Island. She’s also involved in the Center for Southeast Asians and attends Wat Lao Buddhovath in Smithfield most Sundays with her family.

Chef Pin’s parents also escaped from Laos before Pin was born. They immigrated to the United States in 1989, where Pin was born a citizen. She was raised in Woonsocket, growing up in public housing. When a fire tragically burned her family’s apartment to the ground, eleven-year-old Pin sold homemade sticky rice and egg rolls door-to-door as a way to help her family. 

In high school, she learned graphic design and joined Riverzedge Arts in Woonsocket, an after-school arts program for at-risk youth. After high school, Pin enrolled in the University of Rhode Island and enlisted in the Air Force Reserve in 2009 to take advantage of its educational benefits. 

Pin then became a young mother to a little girl and founded Pin’s Kytchen to share holistic practices and Laotian food. It started out as an Instagram account but transformed into a food and private chef catering business in 2019 out of Hope & Main in Warren. Now her daughter is a little entrepreneur, helping mom out with Pin’s Kytchen, too. Pin also helps other immigrants start their own small businesses. 

Food Tells a Story

As part of the dinner party, both Laotian women share foods they grew up eating and tell the stories behind the dishes. “Growing up as a young Laotian woman, I admired my mom’s creativity in cooking with limited ingredients while feeding four children,” Ting says. “Her simple Laotian dishes consisted of three or four ingredients; however, they were never lacking in spices and flavors, filling our home with enticing aromas and leaving our taste buds tingling with heat.”

As part of the meal, they serve traditional Laotian specialties, including nime chow (fresh spring rolls filled with shrimp, carrots, cucumber, lettuce and vermicelli), papaya salad, pho, sticky rice with meat, larb and Laotian sausage. Chef Pin and Ting provide guests with instructions on eating each dish like a true Laotian.

When the first dish, nime chow, arrives with a sweet-and-spicy peanut dipping sauce, chef Pin instructs, “If you don’t want to be messy, you can pick up the nime chow, face it with the opening up, take a spoonful of sauce and pour it right in,” she says. “Nime chow is a very light, refreshing appetizer, but one of my all-time favorites.”

This is the Laotian snack that started Pin’s Kytchen. “I am going to try not to get emotional, but I can’t believe I’m standing here right now,” Pin says, biting back tears. “I used to be standing and serving these under a tent at a pop-up market.”

Many local Thai restaurants actually serve Laotian food, Pin says; consumers just don’t know it. 

“Our food has a lot more flavor, so you also get notes of sour, sweet, spicy and umami flavors,” she says. “Thai food tends to be lighter, a little sweeter. 

“Our food tends to be spicier, just like our people,” she adds with a laugh.

The ingredients that set Laotian food apart from Thai food include padak, a traditional fermented fish sauce that’s stronger than Thai fish sauce, herbs like lemongrass, galangal, mint, dill and cilantro, fermented vegetables and, of course, sticky rice, which is meant to be eaten with your hands and used to soak up sauces and pinch meat. Papaya salad (tam mak hoong) is another staple, as well as larb, a minced meat salad (chicken, beef or pork), made with finely chopped mint, cilantro and scallions. 

Laotian food often includes cuts of offal, which abides by Laotian principles of minimal waste. The flavors focus on umami, bitterness, spiciness and earthiness, while Thai food is often sweeter. There’s also more of a focus on slow-cooked broths, like in pho, rather than on coconut milk as in Thai curries. Spicy dipping sauces (jeow) are very important to meals. 

Utensils aren’t always necessary when eating the food. 

“Sticky rice, you use your hands and roll it up in a small ball, then you dip it into your papaya salad, and that’s your bite,” Pin says. “You can also take the sticky rice with your steak and the papaya salad and make yourself a mini sandwich.”

Each dish is plated like it’s coming out of a high-end restaurant. “Pin made beautiful entrees that are meaningful to me and my family, but also remind me that Laotian food can be elevated,” Ting says. “It’s not just simple food. It’s also extravagant.”

After sharing a few final words, the women conclude the dinner after dessert — mango with sticky rice — explaining how proud they are to share a part of their culture with everyone around the table. Ting’s mother gazes over at her daughter with pride. 

“My parents have sacrificed everything so their four children could live the American Dream, instilling within each of us the core values of hard work, perseverance and determination,” Ting says. 

Pin’s Kytchen Recipes

Papaya Salad 

Serves 4–6

Kitchen Cookware Needed

Mortar and pestle

4 cups shredded green papaya 

   (purchase at an Asian market)

4–15 cherry tomatoes

½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice*

2 garlic cloves

5–10 Thai chili peppers 

   (adjust to your spice preference)*

2 tbsp sugar*

2 tbsp mushroom seasoning

1 tbsp shrimp paste (optional) 

   (purchase at an Asian market)

¼ cup Zab Mike pasteurized Thai

   fermented fish sauce (purchase at an 

   Asian market)

2 tbsp Three Crabs brand fish sauce 

   (purchase at an Asian market)

*Adjust based on your taste preferences.

Prepare the Salad

Peel the skin from the green papaya. Wash thoroughly and shred the papaya into 2–3-inch-long strands using a julienne Y-peeler. Wash and dry the cherry tomatoes, then slice them in half.

Cut the limes in half and squeeze the juice into a bowl. Set aside. Peel the garlic cloves. Wash and dry the Thai chili peppers, removing the stems.

Prepare the Sauce

In the mortar, begin by crushing the garlic cloves, Thai chili peppers, sugar and mushroom seasoning into a paste using a wooden pestle. If you’re using shrimp paste, add it to the mixture and carefully mash it into the paste until well combined.

Add the cherry tomatoes to the mortar and gently smash them into the paste using the pestle. Pour in the Zab Mike fish sauce and the Three Crabs fish sauce, then mix everything together with the spoon and pestle until well-blended. Add the shredded papaya to the sauce, then use a spoon and pestle to mash and mix it all together until the papaya is coated with the sauce.

Taste the papaya salad and adjust the seasoning to your preference, adding more lime juice, sugar or Three Crabs fish sauce if needed. Once it’s perfectly balanced, plate and enjoy!

Pad See Ew

Serves 2–4

Kitchen Cookware Needed

Wok or 12-inch-deep frying pan

1 lb fresh wide rice noodles (ho fun noodles) 

   (purchase at an Asian market)

1 lb Chinese broccoli

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs

4 garlic cloves, minced

3 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

8–10 peeled shrimp

¼ cup vegetable oil, divided

2 large eggs

Prepare the Ingredients

Microwave the noodles for 1-2 minutes to soften. Carefully peel and separate the noodles and cut into 2-inch strips. Wash and cut the Chinese broccoli stems into 1-inch slices. Cut the leaves into 2-inch pieces. Slice chicken thighs into 1-inch pieces. Mince 4 garlic cloves.

Prepare the Sauce

In a mixing bowl, add oyster sauce, sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce and dark soy sauce and mix together.

Blanch the Chinese Broccoli

Bring a pot of water to boil, add the Chinese broccoli stems and blanch for 1-2 minutes. Remove using stainless-steel tongs. Wash under cold water, drain and set aside. Add the leaves to the boiled water, blanch for 10-15 seconds. Remove and wash under cold water, drain and set aside.

Cook 1-2 Servings at a Time

Heat oil in a well-seasoned wok or a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Once hot, add a pinch of minced garlic and the chicken. Pour in 1 tablespoon of the sauce, stir, and cook for 5 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked. Then add the shrimp and saute for 1-2 minutes until cooked. Add the Chinese broccoli, then remove the mixture from the pan and set aside. Clean the wok by rinsing it with water and wiping it dry.

Add vegetable oil and minced garlic to the wok and saute over medium-high heat. Crack in the egg and scramble briefly. Add the rice noodles (don’t overcrowd the wok) and a heaping spoonful of the sauce. Turn the heat to high and toss to coat the noodles and egg evenly.

Spread the noodles out and let them sit for about 15-30 seconds until some of the noodles begin to char. Flip the noodles and let them sit again to char the other side. You can flip the noodles a few more times to get more char if desired.

Add one portion of the cooked protein to the wok, ensuring no accumulated meat juices are added, and toss briefly to combine. Taste and add more sauce if needed. 

Clean wok and repeat instructions to cook more portions.