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Fish and seafood from Myanmar

Shan fish paste (Kengtung)

Shan fish paste from Kengtung is rohu ground with salt and chilli, sometimes garlic, and held in a closed plastic bag for two weeks to a month before sale. It is a red, chilli-hot paste with much less salt than the delta fish pastes. Makers say it must be kept in a refrigerator to last.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Shan fish paste itself.

DocumentedFish and seafood15 days – 31 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe two Kengtung makers' recipes recorded by WorldFish (samples 001_KT and 002_KT), in Burmese weights (viss and tical).
Rohu, headed and gutted1 viss (maker 001); 12 viss (maker 002)[worldfish2024]
Salt10 tical per viss of fish (001); 90 tical per 12 viss (002)[worldfish2024]
Chilli (red chilli flakes or dried chilli powder)10 tical per viss of fish (001); 90 tical per 12 viss (002)[worldfish2024]
Garlic2 cups, measured with a milk tin (002 only)[worldfish2024]

Total time across the recorded steps: 15 days – 31 days

Start
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What changes: The fish pieces are washed until the water runs clear, then drained

Step 1 of 3
Wash the fish until the water runs clear, then drain
Time
2 h
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
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

Shan fish paste from Kengtung is rohu ground with salt and chilli, sometimes garlic, and held in a closed plastic bag for two weeks to a month before sale. It is a red, chilli-hot paste with much less salt than the delta fish pastes. Makers say it must be kept in a refrigerator to last. Made in 3 steps over 15 days – 31 days. The longest step, hold in a closed plastic bag, takes 15–30 days (Rizaldo Q.V 2024).

Key numbers
Main step15–30 daysReported[worldfish2024]Hold in a closed plastic bag

What makes this one different

Shan fish paste is ground with a lot of chilli and fermented for only weeks, with less salt than the delta ngapi, so makers keep it in the refrigerator.

Related ferments

Safety

Across the 14 Myanmar fish-paste samples tested, Salmonella was found in half, S. aureus in 12 and E. coli in 3, and total coliforms were above the allowed level in 60 % (WorldFish 2024). Low salt and a short ferment mean refrigeration is part of keeping it, as the makers say. Botulism is a documented hazard of fermented fish. FDA guidance says fish preserved by fermentation should be gutted first, because spores in the guts can make toxin even when temperature is strictly controlled [fda-ch13]. These makers head and gut the rohu, but FDA says the risk remains if any part of the guts is left. The sources give no water-phase salt or pH for the paste, and no temperature for its two weeks to a month in a closed bag. Keep it refrigerated and do not hold it warm.

Hazards the sources name: Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus found in some of the six upland fish-paste samples.

History and sources

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

  1. [worldfish2024] Rizaldo Q.V., Aung H.M., Akester M. 2024, Quality of fermented fish in Myanmar, WorldFish, Bayan Lepas, Malaysia; annex samples 001_KT and 002_KTother
  2. [fda-ch13] US Food and Drug Administration, Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance, Chapter 13, Clostridium botulinum toxin formationgov