🔄 Updated 21 Jun 2026
Isan has many styles of fermented food, and Kalasin is especially known for it because beef cattle like khun (fattened) cattle are raised here in a big way. Good beef becomes the raw material for mam and som nuea that are hard to find elsewhere. Come festival season, the souvenir shops in town can barely keep up with demand.
Mam, som nuea, sausage — what's the difference
Many people lump these together as "fermented stuff," but they're actually quite different. Knowing the distinctions before you buy helps you pick what you'll actually like.
- Mam — made from lean beef or pork with no fat, mixed with offal like liver or spleen, stuffed into a casing and fermented to a mild sourness. Round and plump, dense in texture, good grilled or fried.
- Som nuea / som moo — minced meat fermented with cooked rice and garlic, more sharply sour than mam. Usually wrapped in banana leaf; it can be eaten raw but most people grill it first.
- Isan sausage — pork with some fat mixed with cooked rice, stuffed into linked sections, fermented sour and grilled. Rounder and milder in flavour, the easiest of the three to eat.
- Naem nuea — fermented sour beef with a smooth texture, bolder than the sausage. Good for anyone who likes the sourness up front.
How to eat it well
Fermented grilled meats are always eaten with sides — sliced fresh ginger, bird's-eye chilli, roasted peanuts and fresh vegetables. The sourness from fermentation cuts the heat of the ginger just right. Grill over low heat so the skin tightens but the inside stays juicy; don't let it dry out.
Want to taste deeper? Try a Kalasin food tour or cooking class
Half a day with a local who knows the lanes — or cooking a dish yourself — teaches you more than just eating. Book ahead on Klook or GetYourGuide.
Mam and Isan-sausage shops the locals actually go to
We picked shops that are still open and have a real storefront, ordered from the town centre outward to the surrounding districts. Prices are rough ranges you'll commonly see and may shift with the price of meat at the time. If you're buying in bulk over a festival, call ahead to check.
Khak E-Lee (Somdet District)
A well-known souvenir shop in Somdet district, famous for beef mam, pounded beef sheets, pounded pork and dried beef tendon. The meat is dense with a nicely balanced sourness, and it's a shop people often buy a big box of to take back to Bangkok. They take online orders and ship nationwide.
Yai Nan Kalasin Souvenirs
A souvenir shop in town selling Isan sausage, mam, som nuea and a range of fermented goods. It's a spot locals stop by around New Year, with live-stream selling and online souvenir shipping.
Khun Tum Sausage Kalasin
The storefront is on Anakhanak Road in town, making Isan sausage, glass-noodle pork sausage, pork mam, beef mam, pork naem and sun-dried pork. It's a place that makes many kinds itself under one roof, and you can pop in for it fresh.
Mam Aroi Kalasin
Sells ready-to-eat grilled mam and fermented grilled meats, with a few spots including the flea market in front of the PTT station and near Kalasin Hospital. Good for a snack on the road or a delivery order via LINE MAN.
Kuchinarai Souvenirs (old-style recipe)
Over in Kuchinarai district there are makers of mam and Isan sausage using original old-style recipes passed down over several generations, with a homely kind of sourness. If you're driving through this way, it's worth stopping to ask at the roadside souvenir shops.
Where to buy — markets and stops
If you'd rather not hunt down one shop at a time, there are spots where you can browse several makers in one place and taste-compare before deciding.
- Talad Rong See Kalasin — a lifestyle mall in the centre of town gathering local food, fermented goods, sweets and handmade items, where you can shop for souvenirs in one place.
- Flea market in front of the PTT station — has grilled-mam stalls and ready-to-eat snacks, handy for a stop along the way.
- Anakhanak Road in town — several makers produce sausage and mam themselves; you can buy it fresh.
- Somdet and Kuchinarai districts — sources of original-recipe souvenirs, good for a stop while driving through heading north or to Mukdahan.
Get it home without spoiling
Fermented grilled meats only keep a few days if not refrigerated. If you're carrying them a long way, ask the shop to vacuum-pack them or use a foam ice box. Raw mam and som nuea should stay chilled the whole way and be grilled as soon as you get home.
Plan a full day of eating around Kalasin
See the Kalasin travel guide →