Pla Ra substitute

Substitutes for Pla Ra with ratios

1. 2Bagoong or another jarred fermented fish paste

   Close match

   Use the same amount then taste before adding any more salt

   Filipino bagoong isda, Vietnamese mam ca, or Burmese ngapi are all salted fermented fish and sit far closer to pla ra than a clear bottled fish sauce does.

   What changes

   Use the same volume the recipe asks for.

   Best for

   som tam pla ra, Isan and Lao dips, any recipe where the sauce should be cloudy

   This is the nearest thing most Western cooks can actually buy, and you get the funk, the pieces and the murk. Salt levels vary a lot between brands, so add two thirds of the amount, taste, and build from there. Shrimp-based bagoong alamang is a different animal and reads distinctly shrimpy rather than fishy.

2. 3Fish sauce alone

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 2 teaspoons fish sauce for every 1 tablespoon pla ra

   Use less than the recipe's pla ra volume, because bottled fish sauce carries more salt per spoon.

   What changes

   Best for

   som tam, weeknight cooking, when you have nothing else

   This is what most recipes quietly suggest and it is fine as far as it goes. Salt and general savoriness land correctly. What disappears is the fermented barnyard funk and the cloudiness, so what you have made is essentially som tam Thai rather than som tam pla ra. It is a good salad, just a different one.

3. 4Toasted shrimp paste + fish sauce

   Taste and texture differ

   Use ½ teaspoon toasted shrimp paste + 2 teaspoons fish sauce for every 1 tablespoon pla ra

   Wrap the shrimp paste in foil and toast it in a dry pan for a minute a side until it smells sharp and nutty, then mash it into the fish sauce.

   What changes

   Best for

   nam phrik, som tam, stir-fried greens, curry pastes

   Toasting is the whole trick, because raw shrimp paste tastes harsh and sour. This gets you real pungency and some body, but the funk arrives from a shrimp direction, so the dish tastes sweeter and more perfumed than the fishy, mineral depth of pla ra. Start small, since shrimp paste is much stronger by volume.

4. 5Red or brown miso + fish sauce

   Different taste

   Use 2 teaspoons dark miso + 1 teaspoon fish sauce for every 1 tablespoon pla ra

   Whisk the miso with the fish sauce and a teaspoon of water until smooth.

   What changes

   Aged darker miso works far better here than sweet white miso.

   Best for

   dressings, dips, soups, cooks with no fermented fish on hand

   Miso supplies two things fish sauce cannot: thickness and a long fermented finish. The gap is obvious though, because the funk is bean-derived, so a salad dressed this way tastes rounder, nuttier and sweeter, and the mineral fish note is missing. Reach for this when you want depth more than accuracy.

5. 6Vegan version: soy sauce + miso + a splash of brine

   Different taste

   Use 1 teaspoon soy sauce + 2 teaspoons red miso + ½ teaspoon sauerkraut or pickle brine for every 1 tablespoon pla ra

   Mash together and let it sit a few minutes before using.

   What changes

   The brine adds the faint sourness that months of fermentation give pla ra.

   Best for

   vegan som tam, vegan larb, vegan dips

   Be clear-eyed about this one: it is salty, fermented and thick, and it is not pla ra. What it does well is stop a vegan papaya salad from tasting like nothing but lime and sugar. Add crumbled toasted nori or a pinch of kelp powder if you also want a marine note.