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Fermentation Atlas

Fish and seafood from Philippines

Balao-balaobalao-balao

Balao-balao is whole shrimp salted, drained and mixed with nearly five times its weight of cooked rice, then sealed in jars for a week or so. Lactic acid bacteria turn the rice sugar into acid, the pH falls from about 7.5 to 3.8, and the shells turn red and soft. It is sautéed with garlic and onion before eating. Made in 5 steps over 7.1 days – 10 days. The longest step, pack in wide-mouth jars and ferment, takes 7–10 days (Sanchez P.C. 1999) and runs at 28 °C (Sanchez P.C. 1999). Salt is 20 % (Sanchez P.C. 1999). Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Pediococcus cerevisiae do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step7–10 daysReported[sanchez1999][narzary2021]Pack in wide-mouth jars and ferment
Temperature28 °CReported[sanchez1999]Pack in wide-mouth jars and ferment
Salt20 %Reported[sanchez1999]Salt and let stand, then drain
AciditypH 7.5 → 3.8Reported[sanchez1999]Pack in wide-mouth jars and ferment
Fully documentedFish and seafood7.1 days – 10 daysMore fish and seafoodMore from Philippines

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe amounts are the general method described by the Philippine food scientist who studied the product; the 1:4.8 ratio is unsalted shrimp to rice by weight.
1 part by weight (unsalted)Live shrimp (Penaeus indicus or Macrobrachium spp.), washed[sanchez1999]
20 % of the shrimp weightSalt, for the first salting[sanchez1999]
4.8 parts by weightCooked, cooled rice[sanchez1999]
3 %Salt, mixed into the shrimp-rice mix[sanchez1999]
To tasteVegetable oil, garlic and onion, to sauté before eating[sanchez1999]
Starterspontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 7.1 days – 10 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: live shrimp, washed

Step 1 of 5
Wash the live shrimp
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
L. mesenteroides
Pediococcus
Lactobacillus plantarum
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

Balao-balao is the shrimp form of burong isda. Both are lactic ferments of seafood with cooked rice, but balao-balao uses whole shrimp and much more rice, about 4.8 parts rice to 1 part shrimp.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Thai kung chao (hung sam)A similar fermented shrimp-rice product from Thailand.

Safety

Lactic acid brings the pH down to about 3.8 within 10 days, and the product is cooked before eating. No safety study of balao-balao was found.

History and sources

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

  1. [sanchez1999] Sanchez P.C. 1999, Microorganisms and technology of Philippine fermented foods, Japanese Journal of Lactic Acid Bacteria 10(1):19–28, doi:10.4109/JSLAB1997.10.19paper
  2. [narzary2021] Narzary Y., Das S., Goyal A., Lam S., Sarma H., Sharma D. 2021, Fermented fish products in South and Southeast Asian cuisine, Journal of Ethnic Foods 8:33, doi:10.1186/s42779-021-00109-0 (table 2)paper