Short mackerel | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Scombriformes |
Suborder: | Scombroidei |
Family: | Scombridae |
Subfamily: | Scombrinae |
Tribe: | Scombrini |
Genus: | Rastrelliger |
Species: | R. brachysoma |
Binomial name | |
Rastrelliger brachysoma (Bleeker, 1851) | |
Synonyms | |
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The short mackerel or shortbodied mackerel (Rastrelliger brachysoma) is a species of mackerel in the family Scombridae. [2] Its habitat is the shallow waters of Southeast Asia and Melanesia, feeding mainly on small zooplankton. It is of major importance to the fisheries industry. [3]
The short mackerel can attain a maximum length of 34.5 cm, but lengths of around 20 cm are more common. It reaches maturity at a length of about 17 cm. The species has the typical appearance of a medium-sized mackerel and is of silver colour. The snout is somewhat pointed. [4]
The short mackerel is pelagic but prefers to feed in estuarine habitats, at surface temperatures of 20–30 °C (68–86 °F). It is a plankton feeder. The spawning season can extend from March to September, with individual populations spawning in batches. [4]
The species is of major commercial importance, and is caught by various methods ranging from gillnetting to dynamite fishing. [1]
This section needs additional citations for verification .(August 2023) |
Pla thu (Thai : ปลาทู; RTGS: pla thu), known as the "fish of the nation" [5] due to its ubiquity, [6] is a very important fish in Thai cuisine, where it is sold in the market with the head bent downwards, which gives it a characteristic shape. Pla thu is typically fried and eaten with nam phrik kapi, boiled and raw vegetables and leafy greens, as well as pieces of cha-om omelette, but it is essential in many other preparations. [7] The name pla thu is sometimes also applied to the Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta), which is prepared in the same way.
In the traditional way of processing the pla thu for preservation, the gills are removed and the head of the fish is bent downwards forcefully towards the belly by breaking its backbone. This is done to allow three fishes to fit into a small open-work bamboo basket of a predetermined size. Once in the baskets, the fish are boiled for a few minutes in large basins of sea-water with salt added at 1 kg (2.2 lb) of salt for every 4 litres (0.88 imp gal; 1.1 US gal) of water. In Thai cuisine, the thus processed pla thu is most often eaten fried in combination with nam phrik kapi, a spicy dip made with shrimp paste, dried prawns, lime juice, fish sauce, and the small pea eggplant, with rice and steamed, raw, or fried vegetables. [8]
The pla thu prepared in this way will keep for a very long time in the refrigerator. In former times, it kept for about two weeks without refrigeration as long as it was boiled for a few minutes every two days. In this manner, this sea fish could reach many places in interior Thailand, like the Chiang Mai area in the far north and even remote places in Isan.[ citation needed ]
Fresh pla thu is commonly used to make soups such as tom yam pla thu. This fish is so popular in Thai culture that the Samut Songkhram F.C. has a pla thu in its emblem.
In 1870, Anna Leonowens described the importance of this fish for Thailand in her book The English Governess at the Siamese Court: "The stream is rich in fish of excellent quality and flavour, such as is found in most of the great rivers of Asia; and is especially noted for its plathu, a kind of sardine, so abundant and cheap that it forms a common seasoning to the labourer's bowl of rice. The Siamese are experts in modes of drying and salting fish of all kinds, and large quantities are exported annually to Java, Sumatra, Malacca, and China". [9] The entrails of this mackerel are one of the main ingredients of tai pla sauce, used in the preparation of the well-known kaeng tai pla curry. [10]
Originally, pla thu was seen as food for the poor in the Siamese perspective. Later, during the King Rama V's reign, the Mae Klong railway line was built connecting Samut Sakhon and Samut Songkhram to Bangkok, both of which were provinces with the largest pla thu fisheries in the country. As a result, a large number of pla thu were transported to Bangkok, and then sent to other regions, allowing people in different parts, such as Isan, to consume more pla thu. There is also evidence that King Rama V was fond of pla thu, as can be seen from the photo of him frying pla thu at Dusit Palace, and he also cooked food using pla thu as an ingredient for himself many times. For this reason, pla thu was elevated. [11]
Thailand's National Fisheries Association warned in 2019 that short-bodied mackerel may go extinct in the Gulf of Thailand unless action is taken. The Thai Department of Fisheries closes the upper part of the Gulf of Thailand annually during the short mackerel breeding season. The fish migrate from the south of the gulf to the north to find spawning grounds. During this period, fishing boats are not allowed in specific areas. Local fishers flout this ban by catching adult female fish during their breeding season, reducing the number of newly spawned fish. [6] In 2011, the pla thu catch in Thai waters was 147,853 tonnes. By 2018, the figure had dropped to 20,461 tonnes. Formerly rich seas off Mae Klong (Samut Songkhram Province) are now home to few fish. Imports from Sri Lanka and Indonesia have become increasingly common, [12] although Thais commonly believe that imported mackerel is inferior in flavour. [5]
This type of mackerel is also very important in the cuisine of other regions of Southeast Asia, such as Cambodia, the Philippines (where it is the most commercially important variety of mackerel), and Malaysia.
Thai cuisine is the national cuisine of Thailand.
Samut Songkhram is one of the central provinces (changwat) of Thailand.
Samut Sakhon is one of the central provinces (changwat) of Thailand, located along the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. In 2019, it had a population of 584,703, and an area of 872 km², making it the 33rd most populated province whilst being the 4th smallest. Neighboring provinces are Samut Songkhram, Ratchaburi, Nakhon Pathom, and Bangkok. Samut Sakhon is part of the Bangkok Metropolitan Region.
Thai eggplant is the name for several varieties of eggplant used in Southeast Asian cuisines, most often of the eggplant species Solanum melongena. They are also cultivated in India and Sri Lanka and feature in Sri Lankan cuisine. These golf ball sized eggplants are commonly used in Thai cuisine, Indonesian cuisine, and in Cambodian Cuisine. Some of the cultivars in Thailand are Thai Purple, Thai Green, Thai Yellow, and Thai White.
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The Mae Klong, sometimes spelled Meklong, is a river in western Thailand. The river begins in Kanchanaburi Province and flows across Ratchaburi Province and Samut Songkhram Province.
Shrimp paste or prawn sauce is a fermented condiment commonly used in Southeast Asian and Coastal Chinese cuisines. It is primarily made from finely crushed shrimp or krill mixed with salt, and then fermented for several weeks. It is sold either in its wet form or sun-dried and either cut into blocks or sold in bulk. It is an essential ingredient in many curries, sauces and sambal. Shrimp paste can be found in many meals in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is often an ingredient in dip for fish or vegetables.
Thai curry is a dish in Thai cuisine made from curry paste, coconut milk or water, meat, seafood, vegetables or fruit, and herbs. Curries in Thailand mainly differ from the curries in India in their use of ingredients such as fresh rhizomes, herbs, and aromatic leaves rather then a mix of dried spices.
Thai fried rice is a variety of fried rice typical of central Thai cuisine. In Thai, khao means "rice" and phat means "of or relating to being stir-fried."
Pla ra, similar to padaek in Laos, is a traditional Thai seasoning produced by fermenting fish with rice bran or roasted rice flour and salt fermented in a closed container for at least six months. Fermented fish seasoning are commonly found in Cambodian, Lao, Mon, Thai and Vietnamese cuisine. Pla ra has a very strong smell, which is considered unpleasant by some people. Its flavors are salty and sour, depending on the amount of salt put in and lactic acid resulting from fermentation process.
Samut Songkhram Football Club is a Thai professional football club based in Samut Songkhram. The club is currently playing in the Thailand Semi-pro League Western region.
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Nam phrik is a type of Thai spicy chili sauce typical of Thai cuisine. Usual ingredients for nam phrik type sauces are fresh or dry chilies, garlic, shallots, lime juice and often some kind of fish or shrimp paste. In the traditional way of preparing these sauces, the ingredients are pounded together using a mortar and pestle, with either salt or fish sauce added to taste.
Shark minnow is a species of small cyprinid fish found in Southeast Asia from the Mae Klong River to the Mekong. It lives mainly in rivers, moving into flooded forests and fields during the floods and back into the river as the floods recede. It usually swims close to the surface in schools of many individuals. It is one of the most abundant of the different types of minnow-sized fishes known as pla sio in Thailand.
Kaeng som, gaeng som, Asam rebus, or Thai/Lao/Malaysian sour curry is a sour and spicy fish curry or soup with vegetables popular in Southeast Asia. The curry is characteristic for its sour taste, which comes from tamarind (makham). The recipe uses palm sugar to sweeten the curry.
Khanom chin or Khanom jeen are fresh, thin rice noodles in Thai cuisine which are made from rice sometimes fermented for three days, boiled, and then made into noodles by extruding the resulting dough through a sieve into boiling water. Khanom chin is served in many kinds of stock: coconut milk, fish curry, and chilli.
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