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Fish and seafood from Vietnam

Mắm chua cá sặcmắm chua cá sặc

Whole gourami are mixed with salt, sugar, a little alcohol, roasted rice powder, ginger, garlic and chilli, then left sealed at room temperature for about 30 days. Lactic acid bacteria sour the fish to about pH 4, and the acid dissolves part of the bone calcium, so the fish keep their shape but the bones turn soft enough to eat.

Fully documentedFish and seafood30 daysFamily: Mắm (Vietnamese fermented fish family)

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe laboratory recipe of a Cần Thơ University study, given as percentages added to the prepared fish; it reproduces the traditional natural ferment as a control.
Gourami (cá sặc bướm and cá sặc điệp), 15–20 g each[nhung2014starter]
Salt10%[nhung2014starter]
Sugar15%[nhung2014starter]
Food-grade alcohol (99.5°)1%[nhung2014starter]
Thính (roasted rice powder)5%[nhung2014starter]
Ginger, garlic and chilli10% together[nhung2014starter]
Starterspontaneous; a Pediococcus acidilactici culture shortened fermentation by 15–20% in trials

Total time across the recorded steps: 30 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: small whole gourami from the Mekong Delta

Step 1 of 5
Prepare the fish
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Pediococcus acidilactici
Lactobacillus farciminis

Medium gourami of 15–20 g each are cleaned and kept whole.

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

Whole gourami are mixed with salt, sugar, a little alcohol, roasted rice powder, ginger, garlic and chilli, then left sealed at room temperature for about 30 days. Lactic acid bacteria sour the fish to about pH 4, and the acid dissolves part of the bone calcium, so the fish keep their shape but the bones turn soft enough to eat. Made in 5 steps over 30 days. The longest step, sour at room temperature, takes 30 days (Đỗ Thị Tuyết Nhung 2014) and runs at 28–30 °C (Đỗ Thị Tuyết Nhung 2014). Salt is 10 % (Đỗ Thị Tuyết Nhung 2014). Pediococcus acidilactici and Lactobacillus farciminis do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step30 daysReported[nhung2014starter][nhung2014id]Sour at room temperature
Temperature28–30 °CReported[nhung2014starter][nhung2014id]Sour at room temperature
Salt10 %Reported[nhung2014starter]Mix with salt, sugar, alcohol, thính and spices
AciditypH 6.3 → 4.2Measured[nhung2014starter]Sour at room temperature

What makes this one different

Unlike salt-heavy mắm that ripen for months, this one uses 10% salt with 15% sugar and roasted rice, sours to about pH 4 in a month, and its acid softens the bones of the whole fish.

Finished pH (natural ferment, day 30)
pH 4.05

Related ferments

Safety

WHO says Clostridium botulinum will not grow below pH 4.6, and in one study the natural and the starter batches got there (about pH 4.1–4.4). The authors give pH below 4.6 as the safe limit for fermented foods eaten uncooked and say the product meets it, but they measured pH and microbe counts, not pathogens or toxin. The liquid starts near pH 6.3 and takes 10 to 15 days at 28–30 °C to fall that far, sealed from air, and the study says the fish itself falls more slowly. WHO names fermented fish among the foods that have carried the toxin. Clean, closed jars do not prevent this, and a batch that has not soured should not be eaten. Souring is no proof of safety either, because WHO says low pH does not break down toxin formed earlier. This is a study method, not a tested home method.

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.
  1. [nhung2014starter] Đỗ Thị Tuyết Nhung, Nguyễn Hữu Hiệp, Nguyễn Văn Thành 2014, Nghiên cứu bổ sung giống vi khuẩn lactic trong chế biến sản phẩm mắm chua cá sặc (adding lactic acid bacteria starters to sour fermented gourami), Tạp chí Khoa học Đại học Cần Thơ, Phần B, 32:9–16paper
  2. [nhung2014id] Đỗ Thị Tuyết Nhung, Nguyễn Hữu Hiệp, Nguyễn Văn Thành 2014, Định danh và xác định một số đặc tính sinh hóa của các dòng vi khuẩn lactic trong sản phẩm mắm chua cá sặc, Tạp chí Khoa học Đại học Cần Thơ 33:53–60 (abstract)paper
  3. [who-botulism] WHO, Botulism fact sheetgov