ABSTRACT
Culturally, fi sh forms the main dish in a meal for people residing near coasts, rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds where it is available in plenty. Fish is an extremely perishable proteinaceous food. Fermentation, salting, drying, and smoking are the principal methods of fi sh preservation innovated by people to enrich their diets (Tamang 2010). Historically, fermentation of fi sh was associated with salt production, irrigated rice cultivation, and the seasonal behavior of fi sh stock (Lee et al. 1993). The Mekong basin was most probably the place of origin of fermented fi sh in Asia, and Han Chinese (200 BCE-200 CE) learned of it when they explored south of the Yangtze River (Ishige 1993). Fish products prepared by lactic acid fermentation remain common in Laos, Cambodia, and in North and Northeast Thailand (Pringsulaka et al.
