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Fermentation Atlas

Fish and seafood from Philippines

Bagoong alamangbagoóng alamáng

Bagoong alamang is tiny Acetes shrimp (alamang) mixed with salt and left to ferment into a pink, salty paste. In a 28-day trial the paste stayed light pink for two weeks, then turned dark pink. It is often coloured red with angkak and sautéed with garlic, pork and sugar before serving. Made in 4 steps over 28 days. The longest step, ferment in jars, takes 28 days (Dagumanpan R.M.B. 2018). Salt is 14–33 % (Dagumanpan R.M.B. 2018).

Key numbers
Main step28 daysMeasured[dagumanpan2018]Ferment in jars
Salt14–33 %Reported[dagumanpan2018][wp-bagoong]Mix with salt
Fully documentedFish and seafood28 daysMore fish and seafoodMore from Philippines

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe 3:1 shrimp-to-salt ratio matches both a common description and the middle treatment of a trial of community-made paste; makers in Sarangani and General Santos City had no standard ratio.
3 parts by weight (2 to 6 parts in a trial)Acetes shrimp, washed in weak brine[dagumanpan2018][wp-bagoong]
1 part by weight (25 % salt to 75 % shrimp)Salt[dagumanpan2018][wp-bagoong]
Angkak (red yeast rice), optional, for a red or pink colour[wp-bagoong]
Starterspontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 28 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: tiny Acetes shrimp, washed in weak brine

Step 1 of 4
Wash the shrimp in weak brine
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Moulds
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Bagoong alamang uses tiny whole shrimp and salt only, unlike balao-balao, which adds cooked rice and sours. With no rice, it ripens under salt rather than by lactic souring.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Fresh pink bagoongMarinated only a few days; the shrimp are still recognisable.
  • Ginisang bagoongSautéed with garlic, onion, pork and sugar after fermentation.
  • Aramang (Ilocos)The Ilocano name for the krill or shrimp paste.

Safety

Salt is what keeps bagoong alamang safe. In a 28-day trial histamine rose from 10.26–20.63 ppm to 18.31–31.02 ppm; the US FDA notes histamine can form during salting and fermenting until a product is fully shelf-stable, and uses 50 ppm in fish flesh as its guidance level.

Hazards the sources name: Histamine-forming bacteria (histamine rose from 10.26–20.63 ppm to 18.31–31.02 ppm over 28 days in a trial).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

  1. [dagumanpan2018] Dagumanpan R.M.B. 2018, Influence of salt concentration on the quality of sergestid shrimp (Acetes sp.) paste, BS Fisheries thesis, Mindanao State University–General Santospaper
  2. [delarosa2021] Dela Rosa C.J.O., Lee A.C., Rivera W.L. 2021, Pink pigmented facultative methylotrophic bacteria isolated from fermented Philippine shrimp paste, Tropical Life Sciences Research 32(2):147–161, doi:10.21315/tlsr2021.32.2.10paper
  3. [sanchez1999] Sanchez P.C. 1999, Microorganisms and technology of Philippine fermented foods, Japanese Journal of Lactic Acid Bacteria 10(1):19–28 (lists alamang among Philippine fermented foods)paper
  4. [fda-ch7] US Food and Drug Administration, Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance, chapter 7, Scombrotoxin (histamine) formationgov
  5. [wp-bagoong] Wikipedia, Bagoong (accessed 2026-10-16), citing Sanchez P.C. 2008, Philippine Fermented Foods, Principles and Technology, UP Press, p. 424wiki