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Fruit from Thailand

Ma-kork-nam-dorng (pickled makoknam)มะกอกน้ำดอง

Ma-kork-nam-dorng is mature makoknam fruit soured in a salt brine. The JIRCAS home method covers the fruit with a 20 % brine under cheesecloth for 10 days in the shade. A Thai study of a related fruit, Elaeocarpus hygrophilus (also called makoknam), instead boiled scored fruit for 5 minutes in a salt and sugar brine and kept the jar 72 hours at room temperature.

Fully documentedFruit3 days – 10 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceHome method from the JIRCAS Thai fermented-food card. The study, on Elaeocarpus hygrophilus (a different fruit from the JIRCAS Spondias), used 600 g of green fruit in a brine of 1,000 ml water with salt at 10–14 % and sugar at 3–9 % of the water weight; 12 % salt with 6 % sugar scored best.
Mature makoknam fruitWashed and drained[jircas]
Salt brine (20 % v/v)2 parts salt to 10 parts waterEnough to cover the fruit[jircas]

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 days – 10 days

Start
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What changes: Green makoknam fruit is washed and slit lengthwise

Step 1 of 4
Wash and prepare the fruit
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The home method uses whole fruit. The study chose green fruit about 3 cm wide and 5 cm long and slit each one four times from end to end, not reaching the seed.

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-kork-nam-dorng is mature makoknam fruit soured in a salt brine. The JIRCAS home method covers the fruit with a 20 % brine under cheesecloth for 10 days in the shade. A Thai study of a related fruit, Elaeocarpus hygrophilus (also called makoknam), instead boiled scored fruit for 5 minutes in a salt and sugar brine and kept the jar 72 hours at room temperature. Made in 4 steps over 3 days – 10 days. The longest step, cover and ferment, takes 3–10 days (JIRCAS 2026) and runs at 25–37 °C (Ruangchai S. 2024). Salt is 10–20 % (JIRCAS 2026).

Key numbers
Main step3–10 daysReported[jircas][ruangchai2024]Cover and ferment
Temperature25–37 °CReported[ruangchai2024]Cover and ferment
Salt10–20 %Reported[jircas][ruangchai2024]Make the brine
AciditypH 3.5–4Measured[ruangchai2024]Cover and ferment

What makes this one different

Ma-kork-nam-dorng follows the general Thai fruit-pickle method, with a plain salt brine in the home method. It is left longer than the 3-day Thai fruit pickles, 10 days under cheesecloth.

Related ferments

Safety

Thailand's community standard for pickled fruit lists makok (มะกอก) among its examples. It 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, and it bans synthetic colours, borax and non-sugar sweeteners. The study pickles (Elaeocarpus hygrophilus, not the JIRCAS fruit) measured pH 3.50 to 3.97 after 72 hours, so only the saltiest, sweetest one met the 3.5 limit at that point.

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-kork-nam-dorng (pickled Spanish plum), 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. [ruangchai2024] Ruangchai S. 2024, Effects of salt, table sugar and honey on the quality of pickled makoknam (Elaeocarpus hygrophilus Kurz.), KKU Science Journal 52(2):235-244, doi:10.14456/kkuscij.2024.19paper