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Fruit from Thailand

Ma-kaam-dorng (brine-pickled tamarind)มะขามดอง

Ma-kaam-dorng is mature tamarind blanched, peeled and soured in a boiled and cooled salt and sugar brine (palm sugar preferred). The closed jar stands in a sunlit spot for 3 days. It is eaten with salt, sugar and crushed chilli.

Fully documentedFruit3 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceHome recipe from the JIRCAS Thai fermented-food card, for 60 tamarind fruits, in cups.
Mature tamarind pods60 fruitBlanched 1 minute and peeled; the seeds are usually left in[jircas]
Salt4 cups[jircas]
Sugar, preferably palm sugar1/2 cup[jircas]
WaterAbout 6 cups[jircas]

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 days

Start
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What changes: The tamarind pods are blanched for a minute and peeled

Step 1 of 4
Blanch and peel
Time
1 min
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacillus plantarum
L. brevis
Lactococcus lactis

The skin is peeled off; the card says the seeds can be removed, but in practice they usually stay in.

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

Ma-kaam-dorng is mature tamarind blanched, peeled and soured in a boiled and cooled salt and sugar brine (palm sugar preferred). The closed jar stands in a sunlit spot for 3 days. It is eaten with salt, sugar and crushed chilli. Made in 4 steps over 3 days. The longest step, cover, close and ferment in the sun, takes 3 days (JIRCAS 2026). Lactobacillus plantarum, L. brevis, L. pentosus and Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3 daysReported[jircas]Cover, close and ferment in the sun
AciditypH up to 3.5Set[tcps160]Cover, close and ferment in the sun

What makes this one different

Ma-kaam-dorng follows the general Thai fruit-pickle method (fruit under a boiled, cooled brine in a closed jar). The pods are blanched for a minute first so the skin peels off.

Related ferments

Safety

Thailand's community standard for pickled fruit requires pH 3.5 or below, total microbes at most 1 × 10^4 per gram, no Staphylococcus aureus in 0.1 g, E. coli below 3 per gram (MPN) and yeasts and moulds at most 100 per gram. It bans synthetic colours, borax and non-sugar sweeteners.

Hazards the sources name: Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli (the pickled-fruit 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: Ma-kaam-dorng (brine pickled tamarind), read 2026-10-23gov
  2. [tcps160] Thai Industrial Standards Institute 2003, Thai Community Product Standard มผช.160/2546, Pickled fruit (phonlamai dong) (copy on archive.org)spec
  3. [chanprasert2010] Chanprasert N. 2010, Growth inhibition of foodborne pathogens by crude bacteriocin produced from lactic acid bacteria isolated from pickled Garcinia schomburgkiana Pierre products, MSc thesis, Suranaree University of Technology (abstract and chapter text, in English and Thai)paper