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Fermentation Atlas

Fish and seafood from Thailand

Som fakส้มฟัก

Firm, sour, pink fish loaf eaten raw or fried; keeps about 2 weeks (JIRCAS). Made in 3 steps over 3 days – 5 days. The longest step, ferment, takes 3–5 days (JIRCAS 1995). Salt is 5 % (JIRCAS 1995). Lactobacillus plantarum, L. pentosus, L. brevis, L. fermentum, L. paracasei and Lactococcus lactis, Leuconostoc citreum do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3–5 daysReported[jircas-somfak]Ferment
Salt5 %Reported[jircas-somfak]Scrape and pound fish to a sticky paste with salt
AciditypH 4.5TypicalFerment
DocumentedFish and seafood3 days – 5 daysMore fish and seafoodMore from Thailand

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedWhat goes in. No source gives amounts for this ferment.
minced fish flesh (often featherback or snakehead)
salt
cooked rice
garlic
sometimes fish skin
Starter: spontaneous

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

Start
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What changes: Fish is scraped and pounded with salt into a sticky paste

Step 1 of 3
Scrape and pound fish to a sticky paste with salt
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
5 %
Reported
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacillus plantarum
L. brevis
L. fermentum
Lactococcus lactis

Too little salt gives fast acid, a fishy smell and a soggy texture.

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

History and sources

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

  1. [s1] Li et al. 2024 Foods (lists Plaa Som Fug in references)paper
  2. [s2] Narzary et al. 2021 (Plaa-som fak named)paper
  3. [jircas-somfak] JIRCAS, Database of Fermented Foods of Thailand: Som-fak (after The Traditional Fermented Foods of Thailand, 1995)gov