Nham Hed (Thai Fermented Mushrooms)
A Thai sour mushroom preparation: shredded steamed oyster mushrooms, cooked rice, garlic and salt packed into small parcels and soured by lactic acid bacteria over a few days.
Lam phueak dong
ลำเผือกดอง · Kaan-peuak-dorng · Taro stalk pickle
Thai pickle of young taro leaf stalks, salted, kneaded and held in rice-washing water in an earthen jar at room temperature. JIRCAS records it as a home-level product with no validated endpoint.
What it is
Lam phueak dong (ลำเผือกดอง) is a Thai ferment made from the young leaf stalks of taro, Colocasia esculenta, not from the starchy corm. The JIRCAS Thailand food database records it as fermented taro leaf stalk. Its alternative local name is given as kaan-peuak-dorng.
The product is a semi-solid, light-purple, sour-salty preparation. It is eaten with nam prik, the chilli paste dip, or used as a main ingredient in a spicy soup.
Origin and dating
The JIRCAS record places the product in a Thailand foods database. That database draws on a 1995 compilation by the Kasetsart University Institute of Food Research and Product Development, went online in fiscal 2015, and was partly revised in 2024. These dates document the record, not the origin of the food.
No cultivar, locality, harvest season or earlier attestation for this stalk pickle was located in the inspected material.
Method as recorded
The recorded outline peels the stalks and cuts them into portions of about 2.5 to 3 inches. About 2.5 percent salt by stalk weight is added, and the mixture is kneaded until soft. It is then packed into an earthen jar with rice-wash water and held at room temperature for five days.
The volume of rice-wash water is not stated. The microorganism field gives no information, so the microbial community and the course of acidification for this product are unknown. The entry also gives a 15-day storage-life field without storage conditions.
Home feasibility and safety
The entry is labelled as home-level production, but it gives no produce weight, no rice-wash water amount, no measurable endpoint, no handling after fermentation and no storage conditions. It is a research outline, not an executable household recipe.
The described tasks are washing, peeling, cutting, kneading and holding in an earthen jar. Jar size, lid, food-contact suitability and cleaning are not specified. No controlled chamber or do-it-yourself build is indicated.
Taro leaves and petioles contain calcium oxalate, which causes irritation. A Vietnamese livestock silage study on taro leaves concerns animal feed, not this human food, and cannot show that the pickle removes acridity. Five days, a sour taste and the stated storage life are not evidence of safety. No product-specific safety validation is given, so this page does not offer a preservation instruction.
Related products
Sato dong is another Thai ferment with its own method. Thai brined pickled plum, veg-0067, is a broad comparison only and is not an equivalent method.
History
The JIRCAS entry is based on a 1995 Kasetsart University compilation. It does not date the food's origin or locate its production more precisely than Thailand.
Ingredients
Scaling: source batch only
Young taro leaf stalk (Colocasia esculenta)Peel the outer skin and cut into portions about 2.5 to 3 inches long.
Amount not stated
stalk weight is the basis for the salt figureSaltKnead with the cut stalks until soft.
2½ % of stalk weight
about 2.5 percent by stalk weight, as JIRCAS gives itRice-washing waterAdded to the jar with the salted stalks.
Amount not stated
amount not stated in the sourceMethod
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Uncontrolled spoilage
The outline has no measurable fermentation endpoint, no storage conditions and no defined water ratio.
Hazard sourceTaro oxalate
Studies of taro tissue report oxalate, but the cited study is a livestock silage study and does not test this human food process or show that the pickle removes it.
Hazard sourceKeep the stalks fully under the liquid and the jar covered. The source does not specify these controls.
Control sourceThis is a research outline, not a tested household recipe.
Smell, taste or appearance do not establish safety.
- Wash and peel young taro stalks, then cut them into portions about 2.5 to 3 inches long.
- Add salt at about 2.5 percent of the stalk weight and knead until the stalks are soft.
- Pack the stalks into an earthen jar with rice-washing water. The source does not give the amount.
- Hold at room temperature for five days. The source gives no temperature range or endpoint.
Conditions
Fermentation5 days
Temperature controlAmbient, monitored
Places
Thailand
Documented preparation · Country evidenceThe JIRCAS entry, based on a 1995 Kasetsart University compilation, places the product in Thailand. It does not give a more precise locality or an origin date.
Related
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Sources
JIRCAS (Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences), based on the Kasetsart University Institute of Food Research and Product Development 1995 compilationMethod · Identity · Uses
Lam-peuak-dorng, Database of Fermented Foods of ThailandYoung taro leaf stalk, salt at about 2.5 percent of stalk weight, kneaded, rice-wash water in an earthen jar, five days at room temperature.
Light-purple, semi-solid sour-salty product, eaten with nam prik or used in spicy soup.
A 15-day storage life is stated without conditions.
Cited in: What it is; Origin and dating; Method as recorded; Home feasibility and safety; Related products
Japan International Research Center for Agricultural SciencesHistory
Database of Fermented Foods of Thailand (No. 1216)The database is based on the 1995 Kasetsart compilation, online since FY2015, partly revised in 2024.
Cited in: What it is; Origin and dating; Method as recorded; Home feasibility and safety; Related products
Livestock Research for Rural Development 32(5), 2020Safety
Effects of wilting and rice bran supplementation on the quality of taro (Colocasia esculenta) leaf and petiole silageReports oxalate in taro tissue in a livestock silage study. The study does not address this human pickle.
Cited in: What it is; Origin and dating; Method as recorded; Home feasibility and safety; Related products