FermenteaWhere food goes to change
Equipment · Jars, pots and crocks
Earthenware jars hold salted fish while budu matures. Southern Thai accounts document bamboo mat, plastic and aluminum, and wood-board covers in different production settings.
Budu is fermented in earthenware jars. A 2016 report from Ban Ba Khe, Narathiwat, describes 200-litre jars used for fish and salt; this is a documented local example, not a universal capacity. The sources reviewed here do not establish a standard jar profile, clay source, glaze or firing method.
JIRCAS documents whole sea or brackish-water fish packed tightly into an earthen jar with salt. Its Thai record names anchovies and small sardines among the fish used, while also describing budu as a home or village-industry product concentrated in the south. The sources document the vessel material and use, but do not give dimensions, capacity, clay source, glaze or firing method.
JIRCAS describes whole fish packed tightly into an earthen jar with salt, with extra salt over the packed fish and a bamboo mat covering the mouth before the jar is left in sun or shade. A study of a commercial plant in southern Thailand describes fresh anchovy and salt packed into earthen jars, then plastic bags and aluminum lids used to keep foreign material and insects out. That study sampled the batch through 360 days. In Ban Ba Khe, a 2016 report describes plastic with old wooden boards and newer stainless-steel covers. These accounts show varied coverings in distinct production settings; none establishes a universal arrangement.
The cover and any mat work with the jar rather than defining a single universal design. The available accounts do not establish a standard profile, that every jar is glazed, or that a particular clay surface causes a particular flavour. In the plant study, jars were used in production, but researchers did not compare earthenware with another vessel material.
Salted fish changes gradually inside the jar. In the plant study, researchers followed physicochemical and microbial changes as fish proteins broke down and soluble peptides and nitrogen compounds accumulated. The vessel contains this slow transformation; it does not perform it by itself. The study does not isolate a ceramic effect from the roles of salt, fish enzymes, microorganisms, time or the way the jar is covered.
Budu is also a traditional food of East Coast communities in Peninsular Malaysia. The JIRCAS and plant-study descriptions consulted here provide specific earthen-jar evidence for southern Thailand, while the Malaysian review establishes regional production but not this same jar configuration. The reviewed sources do not describe jar makers, procurement, cleaning between batches or useful life.
Earthen jars are used in documented southern Thai budu making. Available records show current use but do not date when this jar form first appeared.
JIRCAS and a commercial-plant study document earthen jars used for budu in southern Thailand.
A 2022 review identifies budu as a traditional food of the East Coast; it does not establish this specific jar form there.
Jars, barrels, skins, leaves, pits and whole rooms decide much of what happens to fermented and cured food. This is how a container works on its contents, and how people in different places chose theirs.
A closed earthen jar documented for fermenting tai-plaa, the salted fish-viscera product of southern Thailand. The sources do not establish one standard jar shape, capacity, lid, or date of first use.
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Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS)Method · Geography · Equipment
Budu — Database of Fermented Foods of ThailandWhole fish are washed, drained, mixed with salt and packed into earthen jars; a bamboo mat is used as a cover and jars are left in sun or shade for 3–6 months.
Budu is made at home or as village industry mostly in southern Thailand.
The entry lists fish species and serving uses; it does not give jar dimensions, capacity or construction details.
Cited in: A jar for salted fish; Different coverings serve different production settings; What the vessel contains and what remains unknown
Journal of Food Science and Technology / Springer NatureMethod · Materials · Use
Physicochemical characteristics and flavor profiles of fermented fish sauce (budu) during fermentation in commercial manufacturing plantA commercial plant in southern Thailand fermented anchovy and salt in earthen jars; plastic bags and aluminum lids were used to keep foreign materials and insects out.
The study followed one process over 360 days and tracked microbial, physicochemical and flavor changes; it did not compare vessel materials.
Cited in: Different coverings serve different production settings; What the vessel contains and what remains unknown
Malaysian Journal of Syariah and Law / Universiti Sains Islam MalaysiaGeography · Regional context
An Overview of Budu Production in Kelantan from Halal and Policy AspectsBudu is a traditional food of East Coast communities in Peninsular Malaysia, with manufacturers concentrated in Kelantan and Terengganu.
This review describes covered containers but does not specify the earthen jar form.
Cited in: What the vessel contains and what remains unknown
Bangkok Biznews (กรุงเทพธุรกิจ)Equipment · Geography · Use
หรอยย..อย่างแรงส์ ด้วย “บูดู”A 2016 report describes 200-litre earthenware budu jars in Ban Ba Khe, Narathiwat.
The report describes plastic with wooden boards and stainless-steel lids as cover arrangements at the site.
Cited in: A jar for salted fish; Different coverings serve different production settings