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Fish and seafood from Thailand

Jing-jangจิ๊งจั้ง

Jing-jang is a southern Thai salted anchovy ferment. Whole anchovies are washed, drained, mixed with sea salt and a little sugar and packed in a closed container for about 15 days. The grey, semi-solid, salty and sour fish is mixed with shallot, chilli and lime as a dip.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Jing-jang itself.

Short entryFish and seafood15 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe JIRCAS database method gives the ingredients but no amounts.
Whole anchovies (Stolephorus indicus), washed and drained[jircas]
Sea salt[jircas]
Sugara small amount[jircas]

Total time across the recorded steps: 15 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: whole anchovies, washed and drained

Step 1 of 3
Wash and drain the whole fish
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Pediococcus 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

At a glance

Jing-jang is a southern Thai salted anchovy ferment. Whole anchovies are washed, drained, mixed with sea salt and a little sugar and packed in a closed container for about 15 days. The grey, semi-solid, salty and sour fish is mixed with shallot, chilli and lime as a dip. Made in 3 steps over 15 days. The longest step, ferment in a closed container, takes 15 days (JIRCAS 1995). Pediococcus halophilus does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step15 daysReported[jircas]Ferment in a closed container

What makes this one different

Jing-jang adds a little sugar and ferments for only 15 days, which gives a salty and sour, semi-solid fish. Budu and nam pla ferment anchovies with salt for months until the flesh dissolves.

Related ferments

Safety

The JIRCAS card gives no salt amount for these whole anchovies, which ferment for 15 days in a closed container. FDA says Clostridium botulinum spores are found in the gills and viscera of fish and that, without gutting, toxin can form while fish are salted or fermented. It exempts whole fish under 5 inches, such as anchovies, from its gutting advice only when processing eliminates any toxin already formed and prevents more forming, and the refrigerated finished product reaches 10 % water-phase salt, or the shelf-stable finished product has a water activity below 0.85 or a pH of 4.6 or less.

History and sources

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

  1. [jircas] JIRCAS, Database of Fermented Foods of Thailand, Jing-jang (references The traditional fermented foods of Thailand, 1995, ISBN 9679932249), read 2026-10gov
  2. [fda-fish13] US Food and Drug Administration, Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance, Chapter 13, Clostridium botulinum toxin formationgov