Karen LeGrand, Buntong Borarin,
& Glenn M. Young
Published: 06 May 2020

You used to eat it because it's all you have, but now it is a necessity in the culture. It’s always been there.

One notable adaptation to traditional prohok production practices has arisen with the advent of modern modes of transportation. Traditionally, communities coordinated together during the peak fishing season to arrange caravans to the nearest waterway, sometimes 60 km away. Ethnic traditions of many families included traveling in oxcarts, sometimes for a week, to target one of the two-week periods of peak fishing activity that preceded a full moon. Fish would be purchased and processed before families make the return trip home.

Overall, bacterial counts were found to range from 105–107 cfu g-1 and consisted primarily of Gram-positive cocci or rods. Among these bacteria, halophilic and halotolerant bacteria Staphylococcus and Tetragenococcus were primary (estimated at 105–106 cfu g-1). Clostridium was also a major genus observed (105 cfu g-1).

The palate of the Khmer people is so refined they are able to distinguish between many different regional preparations, grades, and qualities of prohok. The different tastes, textures, and aromas are influenced by multiple factors including the method of preservation; different types of additional ingredients such as herbs, fruits, or vegetables; the kinds of microorganisms present during the fermentation; the nutritional status of the fish; the origin of the salt; the types of salt impurities present; and even the surrounding air in the production environment.

full https://journalofethnicfoods.biomedcent ... 019-0027-1