German tourist’s love for Thai salted mackerel goes viral on TikTok
A German man went viral among Thai TikTok users after sharing a video of his favourite Thai dish, bought from a market in the southern province of Krabi, in an attempt to discover its exact name from Thai netizens.
The German tourist, Manuel Calumet, shared a video of himself and his family visiting a market in Krabi on Friday, March 14, accompanied by a caption that read, “Video for Thai people.” In the video description, he wrote, “Do you know the name of this fish?”
The video showed Calumet carrying his daughter with one arm while recording a video of himself explaining his appreciation for a “fish” he had bought from the market the previous day.
“I’m making this video in English. I must do this video in English because yesterday I bought a fish at this market, here, and it tastes so good. So I want to buy the whole place, the whole stand.
Now, I want to find the girl (the vendor), and maybe you, Thai people, can tell me the name of the fish. Write it down in the comments, please.”
In the comments section, many Thai netizens guessed that their favourite item must be grilled fish. Grilled fish can be found at almost every market across Thailand and is typically served with various vegetables and a spicy dipping sauce.
Netizens were surprised to discover that the German man’s favourite dish was a very local one, salted mackerel. Calumet was seen purchasing six mackerels, buying the entire stock from the store. He attempted to ask the vendor for the name of the dish, but the vendor appeared unable to provide clarification.
Numerous Thai TikTok users flooded the comments with the dish’s name, both in Thai and English. The dish is called Pla Too Khem.
Pla Too means mackerel and Khem means salty. The mackerel is marinated with salt before being sundried and is typically enjoyed with chopped chilli, shallots, and lime.
Thai netizens also shared that their foreign family members and husbands similarly enjoyed the salted mackerel.
“My older sister’s German husband buys Pla Too Khem every time he comes to Thailand. He even packs them to take back to Germany.”
“My Chinese husband loves it too!”
“My Norwegian husband likes this fish very much. He also loves eating fermented fish with sticky rice.”
@manuelcalumet Do you know the name of the fish? 🇹🇭
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