padaek

{{short description|Traditional Lao condiment made from pickled or fermented fish that has been cured}}

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{{Infobox food

| name = Padaek

| image = Lao fish sauce.jpg

| caption = Bottles of padaek at a convenience store in Vientiane, Laos

| alternate_name = padek

| country = Laos

| region = Southeast Asia

| national_cuisine = Lao

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| main_ingredient = fermented fish

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| similar_dish = prahok, pla ra, ngapi, bagoong

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Padaek or padek (Lao: ປາແດກ) is a traditional Lao condiment made from pickled or fermented fish that has been cured.{{Cite book |last=Formoso |first=Bernard |url=https://www.google.fr/books/edition/Identit%C3%A9s_en_regard/1HmrDQAAQBAJ?hl=fr&gbpv=1&dq=Padaek&pg=PA257&printsec=frontcover |title=Identités en regard: Destins chinois en milieu bouddhiste thaï |date=2016-06-30 |publisher=Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l’homme |isbn=978-2-7351-1893-9 |language=fr}}{{Cite book |last=Kuroda |first=Motonaka |url=https://www.google.fr/books/edition/Kokumi_Substance_as_an_Enhancer_of_Koku/GWH8EAAAQBAJ?hl=fr&gbpv=1&dq=Padaek&pg=PA84&printsec=frontcover |title=Kokumi Substance as an Enhancer of Koku: Biochemistry, Physiology, and Food Science |date=2024-02-19 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-981-99-8303-2 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Skinner |first=Julia |url=https://www.google.fr/books/edition/Our_Fermented_Lives/nZt4EAAAQBAJ?hl=fr&gbpv=1&dq=Padaek+loas&pg=PT154&printsec=frontcover |title=Our Fermented Lives: A History of How Fermented Foods Have Shaped Cultures & Communities |date=2022-09-27 |publisher=Storey Publishing, LLC |isbn=978-1-63586-384-0 |language=en}} It often contains chunks of fish and is thicker, as well as more seasoned than fish sauce. Unlike other versions of fish sauce in Southeast Asia, padaek is made from freshwater fish, owing to the landlocked nature of the former kingdom of Lan Xang. Padaek is used in many Lao dishes, most notably tam maak hoong.