【Reading】ぷらーそむ

【English Name】Pla Som

Pla som is a traditional fermented fish food of Thailand, belonging to the narezushi lineage. Thailand has a wide variety of fermented fish foods, beginning with pla ra and pla raa, and pla som is one of them.

Its basic process of pickling fish with salt and cooked rice for lactic-acid fermentation shares methodological commonalities with Japanese narezushi. This type of fermented fish food is scattered across a wide range from Southeast Asia to southern China, and similar food cultures have developed region by region, such as phaak of Cambodia and kasam of Borneo.

The origin of narezushi is presumed to be the area around northern Thailand and Yunnan Province in China, and the prevailing view holds that it spread throughout Asia along with the diffusion of rice cultivation. Pla som is eaten on its own, and is also often added as an ingredient to soups or stir-fried dishes, where the acidity brought by fermentation adds depth to the dish. In tracing back the source of Japanese sushi, the fermented fish culture of Southeast Asia serves as an indispensable clue.