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Fish and seafood from Thailand

Plaa-too-khemปลาทูเค็ม

Plaa-too-khem is Thai short mackerel gutted through the throat, packed in salt in a vat and covered with saturated brine, then weighted and left for about three months. The fish are rinsed and sun-dried, giving a salty, pasty, red-fleshed fish with brown fat that is fried or grilled.

Fully documentedFish and seafood2 months – 3 months

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe JIRCAS database method for small-scale industry. The Thai community standard for salted fish sets the limits for the finished product.
Mackerel, gills and guts pulled out through the throat, not washed2.5 parts fish to 1 part salt by weightThe blood left in gives a better brine for nam-plaa[jircas]
Sea salt[jircas]
Saturated brinePoured in to cover the fish once the vat is full[jircas]
Starterspontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 months – 3 months

Start
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What changes: Gills and guts are pulled out through the throat, and the fish is not washed

Step 1 of 5
Pull out gills and guts through the throat
Time
Not documented
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

Plaa-too-khem is Thai short mackerel gutted through the throat, packed in salt in a vat and covered with saturated brine, then weighted and left for about three months. The fish are rinsed and sun-dried, giving a salty, pasty, red-fleshed fish with brown fat that is fried or grilled. Made in 5 steps over 2 months – 3 months. The longest step, ferment under brine, weighted, takes 2–3 months (JIRCAS 2026). Salt is at least 10 % (Thai Industrial Standards Institute 2006).

Key numbers
Main step2–3 monthsReported[jircas]Ferment under brine, weighted
Saltat least 10 %Set[tcps312]Finished salted fish

What makes this one different

Plaa-too-khem is fermented whole under saturated brine for months and then sun-dried. Thai fish soured with rice, such as plaa-som, ferment for days at far lower salt.

Related ferments

Safety

The Thai community standard for salted fish (TCPS 312-2549, a general standard, not specific to mackerel) asks for at least 10 % salt, water activity of 0.85 or less, fewer than 200 S. aureus per g and fewer than 50 E. coli per g, with no preservatives or synthetic colours. Mackerel is a scombroid fish, and a 2023 review says histamine poisoning comes from such fish when they are stored badly after catching, so start with fresh fish (Chan et al. 2023). The FDA says histamine cannot be removed by heating once formed, so grilling or frying will not fix a bad batch.

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.
Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [jircas] JIRCAS, Database of Fermented Foods of Thailand, Plaa-too-khem, read 2026-10gov
  2. [tcps312] Thai Industrial Standards Institute 2006, Thai Community Product Standard มผช.312/2549, Salted fish (TCPS 312-2549)spec
  3. [chan2023] Chan S.X.Y., Fitri N., Mio Asni N.S. et al. 2023, A comprehensive review with future insights on the processing and safety of fermented fish and the associated changes, Foods 12(3):558, doi 10.3390/foods12030558paper
  4. [fda-cpg-2024] US FDA 2024, FDA issues final Compliance Policy Guide for scombrotoxin (histamine)-forming fish and fishery products (Sec. 540.525, CPG 7108.24)gov