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Fermentation Atlas

Fish and seafood from Laos

Padaekປາແດກ

chunky, cloudy, pungent fish sauce-paste; the Lao counterpart of Thai pla ra. Made in 3 steps over 2 months. The longest step, ferment in clay jars, takes at least 2 months (JIRCAS Research Highlights 2020 C04). Salt is 18–20 % (JIRCAS Research Highlights 2020 C04). Tetragenococcus halophilus and T. muriaticus does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 2 monthsReported[jircas2020]Ferment in clay jars
Salt18–20 %Reported[jircas2020]Salt fish
AciditypH 5.7–6.1Measured[marui2015]Ferment in clay jars
DocumentedFish and seafood2 monthsMore fish and seafoodMore from Laos

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedWhat goes in. No source gives amounts for this ferment.
freshwater fish
salt
rice bran and/or roasted rice powder
Starter: spontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 months

Start
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Close-up: salt moving into a fishSalt 18–20 %

What changes: Salt draws water out of the fish

Step 1 of 3
Salt fish
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
18–20 %
Reported
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
T. halophilus
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

Safety

Histamine rises when salt is low. In homemade padaek, 10% or 6.5% starting salt let histamine build up within 2 weeks, while 18% salt kept it undetectable for 6 months; 500-1,000 ppm is the hazard level (Marui et al. 2021). Keep the salt at about 18-20%.

History and sources

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

  1. [s1] Li et al. 2024, Foods 13:2565paper
  2. [s2] Wikipedia, Fish sauce (Laos)wiki
  3. [jircas2020] JIRCAS Research Highlights 2020 C04, salt and histamine in Lao padaekgov
  4. [marui2021] Marui J. et al. 2021, histamine and salt in homemade padaek, J. Food Prot. 84(3):429-436paper
  5. [marui2015] Marui J. et al. 2015, Culture-independent bacterial community analysis of the salty-fermented fish paste products of Thailand and Laos, Biosci. Microbiota Food Health 34(2):45-52paper