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Fish and seafood from Thailand

Plaa-jorm / Koong-jormปลาจ่อม

Plaa-jorm is small freshwater fish, or koong-jorm small shrimp, mixed with salt, ground roasted rice and garlic and left closed for a few days until sour. The Thai community product standard asks for 5–10 % salt and a pH no higher than 4.6, and its example of label advice is to cook it before eating.

Fully documentedFish and seafood3 days – 5 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe JIRCAS database method, by weight. The national community product standard sets the limits the finished product must meet.
Small fish or shrimp10 parts by weightFish are gutted and washed; shrimp are only washed[jircas]
Salt1 part[jircas]
Ground roasted rice3 partsSome makers use rice bran instead[jircas]
Minced garlic0.4 part[jircas]

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 days – 5 days

Start
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What changes: The small fish are gutted and washed

Step 1 of 4
Gut and wash the fish (shrimp washed only)
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Pediococcus halophilus
Lactobacillus farciminis
L. plantarum
Lactococcus lactis
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

Plaa-jorm is small freshwater fish, or koong-jorm small shrimp, mixed with salt, ground roasted rice and garlic and left closed for a few days until sour. The Thai community product standard asks for 5–10 % salt and a pH no higher than 4.6, and its example of label advice is to cook it before eating. Made in 4 steps over 3 days – 5 days. The longest step, pack, close and ferment at room temperature, takes 3–5 days (JIRCAS 1995). Salt is 5–10 % (Thai Industrial Standards Institute 2005). Pediococcus halophilus (now Tetragenococcus halophilus), Lactobacillus farciminis, L. pentosus, L. plantarum, Lactococcus lactis does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3–5 daysReported[jircas]Pack, close and ferment at room temperature
Salt5–10 %Set[tcps723]Finished plaa-jorm
AciditypH up to 4.6Set[tcps723]Finished plaa-jorm

What makes this one different

Plaa-jorm uses whole tiny fish or shrimp and ferments for only a few days, while plaa-ra ferments for months. Roasted rice and garlic go in at the start.

Related ferments

Safety

The Thai community product standard (TCPS 723-2548) requires pH 4.6 or lower, 5–10 % salt, no Salmonella in 25 g, no more than 100 S. aureus per g, no parasites and no preservatives or colours, and its example of label advice is to cook it before eating. JIRCAS lists a storage life of 2 weeks with no temperature; that is not a safety limit. WHO names fermented fish among foods that have carried botulinum toxin. This mix stays closed at room temperature with about 7 % salt (computed from the JIRCAS recipe, 1 part salt in 14.4 by weight) until the rice sours. C. botulinum can grow until the pH falls below 4.6, acid does not remove toxin already formed, and the FDA says not to rely on boiling to destroy it. Small freshwater fish can also carry liver fluke, a parasite linked to bile-duct cancer, and a review of Thai cases names fish preserved under 7 days as a likely source. This ferment takes 3–5 days, so fermenting does not replace cooking.

History and sources

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

The Thai Industrial Standards Institute issued the community product standard for pla chom in 2005 (TCPS 723-2548).

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [who-botulism] World Health Organization, Botulism, fact sheetgov
  2. [fda-ch13] US Food and Drug Administration, Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance, Chapter 13: Clostridium botulinum Toxin Formationgov
  3. [jircas] JIRCAS, Database of Fermented Foods of Thailand, Plaa-jorm / Koong-jorm (references The traditional fermented foods of Thailand, 1995, and later papers), read 2026-10gov
  4. [tcps723] Thai Industrial Standards Institute 2005, Thai Community Product Standard มผช.723/2548, Pickled fish (pla chom) (TCPS 723-2548)spec
  5. [kaewpitoon2008] Kaewpitoon N., Kaewpitoon S.J., Pengsaa P. 2008, Opisthorchiasis in Thailand, review and current status, World J. Gastroenterol. 14(15):2297–2302paper