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Vegetables from Thailand

Ka-lam-plee-dorng (Thai fermented cabbage)กะหล่ำดอง

Ka-lam-plee-dorng is cabbage cut in halves or large pieces and covered with a 10 % brine in a closed jar, then left in a sunny place for about 2 days. The cabbage turns greenish yellow. It keeps only about a week and is eaten with nam prik.

Fully documentedVegetables2 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedHome recipe with no fixed batch size; the JIRCAS card gives only the brine strength.
CabbageCut in half or to the size wanted, washed and drained[jircas]
Brine, 10 %enough to cover[jircas]
Cooked rice, or a little sugar and vinegarThe card's ingredient list now names salt, cooked rice and water and notes that sugar and vinegar were deleted; its method text still names sugar and vinegar[jircas]

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Cabbage is cut in halves, washed, drained and packed into a jar

Step 1 of 4
Cut, wash and drain the cabbage
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacillus plantarum

Output: cabbage halves packed in a jar.

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

Ka-lam-plee-dorng is cabbage cut in halves or large pieces and covered with a 10 % brine in a closed jar, then left in a sunny place for about 2 days. The cabbage turns greenish yellow. It keeps only about a week and is eaten with nam prik. Made in 4 steps over 2 days. The longest step, close the jar and ferment in a sunny place, takes 2 days (JIRCAS 2026). Salt is 10 % (JIRCAS 2026). Lactobacillus plantarum does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2 daysReported[jircas]Close the jar and ferment in a sunny place
Salt10 %Reported[jircas]Cover with 10 % brine

What makes this one different

Unlike sauerkraut, the cabbage is not shredded but left in halves or large pieces under a strong 10 % brine, and it is ready in 2 days. Thailand's community standard for pickled cabbage (มผช.1168/2549) covers only finely shredded, salt-packed cabbage, so its limits are not applied to this pickle [tcps1168]. A 2020 review of lactic-acid-fermented foods lists Thai pickled vegetables as a fermented cabbage product of Thailand [ashaolu2020].

Related ferments

Safety

The JIRCAS card gives a 10 % brine in a closed jar and a keeping time of only about 7 days [jircas].

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, Ka-lam-dorng (fermented cabbage) card, read 2026-10-23. Its microbe list cites The traditional fermented foods of Thailand (ASEAN, 1995).gov
  2. [tcps1168] Thai Industrial Standards Institute 2006, Thai Community Product Standard มผช.1168/2549, Shredded pickled cabbage (kalampli soi dong; catalogued in English as Pickled cabbages), scope and definition (copy on archive.org)spec
  3. [ashaolu2020] Ashaolu T.J. and Reale A. 2020, A holistic review on Euro-Asian lactic acid bacteria fermented cereals and vegetables, Microorganisms 8(8):1176, doi:10.3390/microorganisms8081176 (lists Thai pickled vegetables as fermented cabbage from Thailand)paper