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Fish and seafood from Vietnam

Mắm ruốc (Huế)mắm ruốc

Mắm ruốc Huế is a dipping paste of tiny sea shrimp (ruốc, called khuyết in Huế) fermented with salt to about 10–12% salt. Mắm ruốc in general is fermented in the sun, some makers adding rice wine and sugar, for 6–9 months. Salt-tolerant Lactobacillus fermentum is the lactic bacterium found in the Huế paste.

Fully documentedFish and seafood6 months – 9 monthsFamily: Mắm (Vietnamese fermented fish family)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo recipe or batch amounts are published; household and small-producer recipes vary.
Ruốc (con khuyết), tiny sea shrimp[thuy2019][phan2024]
SaltTo about 10–12% salt in the product[thuy2019]
Rice wine and sugarNamed for mắm ruốc in general, not for the Huế paste in particular[phan2024]
Starterspontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 6 months – 9 months

Start
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What changes: The tiny sea shrimp are ground before they are salted

Step 1 of 4
Grind the small shrimp
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Lactobacillus fermentum

The 2024 survey (Table 1) describes mắm ruốc in general as ground small sea shrimp, hydrolysed with salt, wine and sugar. It does not say this for the Huế paste in particular. Output: ground shrimp.

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

At a glance

Mắm ruốc Huế is a dipping paste of tiny sea shrimp (ruốc, called khuyết in Huế) fermented with salt to about 10–12% salt. Mắm ruốc in general is fermented in the sun, some makers adding rice wine and sugar, for 6–9 months. Salt-tolerant Lactobacillus fermentum is the lactic bacterium found in the Huế paste. Made in 4 steps over 6 months – 9 months. The longest step, ferment in the sun, takes 6–9 months (Phan Thi Hang G 2024). Salt is 10–12 % (Đỗ Thị Bích Thủy 2019). Lactobacillus fermentum does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step6–9 monthsReported[phan2024]Ferment in the sun
Salt10–12 %Reported[thuy2019]Salt the fresh ruốc

What makes this one different

The central Vietnamese name for shrimp paste. The Huế paste is reported at 10–12% salt, and its lactic flora is dominated by Lactobacillus fermentum.

Related ferments

Safety

The Huế paste is reported at 10–12 % salt.

History and sources

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

History
The sources we found do not record its history.
  1. [thuy2019] Đỗ Thị Bích Thủy, Nguyễn Thị Diễm Hương, Đinh Thị Thu Thanh 2019, Xác định một số tính chất có lợi của các chủng vi khuẩn lactic phân lập từ mắm ruốc Huế, HUAF Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology 3(3):1458–1467paper
  2. [phan2024] Phan Thi Hang G., Husáková M., Kaštánek P., Patakova P. 2024, Diversity of cultivable lactic acid bacteria and bacilli in traditional fermented foods in Vietnam, Czech Journal of Food Sciences 42(6):435–446 (Table 1 and isolates, mam ruoc), doi:10.17221/162/2024-CJFSpaper
  3. [baobacninh2025] Bắc Ninh Newspaper and Television (English edition) 2025, Salted specialties make Hue cuisine one to savor (section on small-shrimp paste, mam ruoc)web