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Vegetables from Thailand

Pak-naam-dorng (fermented Lasia spinosa)ผักหนามดอง

Pak-naam-dorng is the young leaves and stalks of Lasia spinosa, blanched or sun-dried for a day and covered with a brine of salt, palm sugar and water in about a 4 to 1 to 24 ratio. It sours in a sunny place in 2 to 3 days. The raw leaves hold poisonous hydrocyanic acid and must never be eaten raw.

Fully documentedVegetables3 days – 4 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceRatio from the JIRCAS Thai fermented-food card; no batch size is given.
Young Lasia leaves with their stalksWashed, then blanched or sun-dried for 1 day[jircas]
Salt, palm sugar and waterAbout 4 parts salt to 1 part palm sugar to 24 parts waterSome makers mix wine vinegar into the brine[jircas]

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 days – 4 days

Start
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What changes: The young leaves and stalks are blanched, or dried in the sun for a day

Step 1 of 2
Wash, then blanch or sun-dry the leaves
Time
24 h
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacillus plantarum
Pediococcus pentosaceus
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

Pak-naam-dorng is the young leaves and stalks of Lasia spinosa, blanched or sun-dried for a day and covered with a brine of salt, palm sugar and water in about a 4 to 1 to 24 ratio. It sours in a sunny place in 2 to 3 days. The raw leaves hold poisonous hydrocyanic acid and must never be eaten raw. Made in 2 steps over 3 days – 4 days. The longest step, cover with the brine and ferment in a sunny place, takes 2–3 days (JIRCAS 1995). Lactobacillus plantarum and Pediococcus pentosaceus do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2–3 daysReported[jircas]Cover with the brine and ferment in a sunny place
AciditypH up to 4Set[tcps1214]Cover with the brine and ferment in a sunny place

What makes this one different

Pak-naam-dorng starts from a leaf that is poisonous raw; the JIRCAS card says cooking or fermenting neutralises its acid. The standard allows cooked rice or rice-wash water in the brine and a second soak in a seasoned liquid.

Related ferments

Safety

The raw leaves hold poisonous hydrocyanic acid, and the JIRCAS card says they must be cooked or fermented before eating. That note is the only evidence we found. No study we found measures the acid in these leaves or in this pickle, so 2 to 3 days in brine is not shown to remove it, and neither is sun-drying. Of the card's two options, choose blanching, and cook or fry the pickle before eating, as the card also lists. Thailand's community standard for pickled Lasia requires pH 4.0 or below, total microbes under 1 × 10^6 per gram, Staphylococcus aureus under 100 per gram, E. coli below 3 per gram (MPN) and yeasts and moulds no more than 100 per gram.

Hazards the sources name: Hydrocyanic acid in the raw leaves (named on the JIRCAS card; no amount is given); Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli (the standard sets limits for both).

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.
Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [jircas] JIRCAS, Database of Fermented Foods of Thailand: Pak-naam-dorng (fermented lasia); microbes cite The traditional fermented foods of Thailand (1995); read 2026-10-23gov
  2. [tcps1214] Thai Industrial Standards Institute 2006, Thai Community Product Standard มผช.1214/2549, Pickled Lasia (pak-naam dorng) (copy on archive.org)spec