Pla ra is fermented fish sauce

Fish sauce

Fish sauce is a condiment that is derived from fish that have been allowed to ferment. It is an essential ingredient in many curries and sauces. Fish sauce is a staple ingredient in numerous cultures in Southeast Asia and the coastal regions of East Asia, and features heavily in Thai and Vietnamese...

, popular in Northeastern Thai cuisine.

It is made by pickling several varieties of fish, mainly Snakehead Murrel (Channa striata

Channa striata

The snakehead murrel, Channa striata, is a species of snakehead fish. It is also known as the common snakehead, chevron snakehead, striped snakehead, haloan, aruan, haruan and dalag...

). The fish is cleaned and cut into pieces, after which it is mixed with salt and rice bran. The whole is then left in a big jar covered with a wooden lid, to ferment for three months to a year.

Pla ra sauce is commonly added to a number of preparations of the Thai cuisine, like Som tam

Som tam

Som tam or som tum also known as tam bak hung is a spicy salad, the standard form of which is made from shredded unripened papaya. Som tam is similar to the Laotian dish tam mak hung and the Cambodian dish bok l'hong...

 and Nam phrik

Nam phrik

Nam phrik , generally pronounced "Nam phik", is a generic term that may refer to any of the types of more or less thick spicy, often chili based, hot sauces typical of Thai cuisine. The main ingredients of Nam phrik are fresh or dry chilies, garlic, shallots, fish sauce, lime juice and/or some kind...

, as well as some dishes. There is also a dried powdered version of pla ra that has been successfully marketed recently.

Other uses

In a recent move by police and redevelopment workers to evict vendors from a market at Khlong Toei

Khlong Toei

Khlong Toei is a district in central Bangkok, long known for its slum. It is bordered by the Chao Phraya River and contains major port facilities. It is also the name of a major market, though not touristic...

, Bangkok

Bangkok

Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...

, the local vendors barricaded themselves. During the scuffles that ensued, the traders made "stink bombs" with thin plastic bags filled with pla ra and hurled them at the police. At noon of 1 February 2010 bags of excrement and pla ra were thrown into Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva

Abhisit Vejjajiva

Abhisit Vejjajiva , , ; born Mark Abhisit Vejjajiva; 3 August 1964 in Newcastle upon Tyne) is a Thai politician who was the 27th Prime Minister of Thailand from 2008 to 2011 and is the current leader of the Democrat Party...

's house. Abhisit linked the incident to Thaksin's assets seizure trial. Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban

Suthep Thaugsuban

Suthep Thaugsuban is a Thai politician, and Member of Parliament for Surat Thani province...

 (in charge of security) explicitly blamed the UDD

National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship

The United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship , whose supporters are commonly called "Red Shirts", is a political pressure group opposed to the People's Alliance for Democracy , the 2006 Thai military coup, and supporters of the coup. Notable UDD leaders include Jatuporn Prompan, Nattawut...

 for the incident. Afterwards, the perpetrator was arrested. The perpetrator confessed and claimed that he threw the stinky substance because he was fed up with police indifference to his complaints of people smoking cigarettes near his house.

See also

• Prahok
  Prahok
  Prahok​​ is a crushed, salted and fermented fish paste that is used in Cambodian cuisine as a seasoning or a condiment. It originated as a way of preserving fish during the longer months when fresh fish was not available in abundant supply...
  
  
• Padaek
  Padaek
  Padaek, sometimes Padek, Lao bagoong, is a traditional Laotian condiment made from pickled or fermented fish that has been cured. Often known as Laotian fish sauce, it is a thicker, seasoned fish sauce that often contains chunks of fish in it...
  
  
• Conpoy
  Conpoy
  Conpoy or dried scallop is a type of dried seafood product made from the adductor muscle of scallops. The smell of conpoy is marine, pungent, and reminiscent of certain salt-cured meats. Its taste is rich and umami due to its high content of various free amino acids, such as glycine, alanine, and...
  
  
• Saeujeot
  Saeujeot
  Saeujeot is a variety of jeotgal, salted and fermented food made with small shrimp in Korean cuisine. It is the most consumed jeotgal along with myeolchijeot in South Korea. The name consists of the two Korean words, saeu and jeot...
  
  
• Shrimp paste
  Shrimp paste
  Shrimp paste or shrimp sauce, is a common ingredient used in Southeast Asian and Southern Chinese cuisine. It is known as terasi in Indonesian, ngapi in Burmese, kapi in Thai, Khmer and Lao language, belacan in Malay, mắm ruốc, mắm tép and mắm tôm in...
  
  
• Budu
• Fish sauce
  Fish sauce
  Fish sauce is a condiment that is derived from fish that have been allowed to ferment. It is an essential ingredient in many curries and sauces. Fish sauce is a staple ingredient in numerous cultures in Southeast Asia and the coastal regions of East Asia, and features heavily in Thai and Vietnamese...
  
  

External links

• Lon Pla Ra