# Talk:Naem (food)

I'm not able to do a full GA review, but the article is still lacking in coverage of the origins of the dish and its relation to similar foods in neighbouring countries. Does it exist in Laos? How is it related to the Vietnamese nem (which is the same word in Thai)? The article currently only discusses the subject within a Thai perspective and that's not quite enough. Origins of certain foods can be a sticky issue with nationalistic sentiments sometimes misguiding their treatment, so good quality sources will be needed. --Paul_012 (talk) 07:18, 21 February 2016 (UTC)

See the GA review at Talk:Naem/GA1 where aspects of this comment have been addressed. North America1000 08:08, 2 March 2016 (UTC)

This review is transcluded from Talk:Naem/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.
Reviewer: Sainsf (talk · contribs) 02:51, 1 March 2016 (UTC)
The article looks good, will review. Sainsf <^>Talk all words 02:51, 1 March 2016 (UTC)


### Lead
Citations do not look really good in the lead. That's what other reviewers have suggested to me. All facts of the lead should be included in the main body, and the citations should go there.
I have reorganized the lead. Only two citations remain to verify the various alternate names for it, which are typically included in article lead areas. North America1000 10:01, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
Why is there no infobox here?
An infobox has been added. North America1000 07:02, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
Southeast Asia Why is "S" in caps?
It appears to be a proper noun. For example, the Southeast Asia article denotes it as such in the prose there, with both words capitalized. North America1000 06:51, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
Link fermentation
This is actually already linked in the lead, as "fermented". However, I have added an additional link to the article below the lead. North America1000 06:48, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
Naem typically has a short shelf life and can be time-consuming and labor-intensive to prepare. I guess a better phrasing would be "Naem typically has a short shelf life, which can be extended through refrigeration. The sausage can be time-consuming and labor-intensive to prepare.
Y I have incorporated this suggestion into the lead. North America1000 06:55, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
The first line of the third para seems to repeat the "is often" phrase.
In this instance it seems fine to use the phrase twice, because it denotes that the product is often eaten raw, and is also often accompanied with the named foodstuffs. Omission of one of the "is often" phrases would make the sentence less precise. North America1000 06:47, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
It is used as an ingredient in various dishes Please add an example.
 Done. North America1000 06:45, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
Is ginger not too common to be linked?
Neutral. Linking ginger seems to be in order, because it's not necessarily an ingredient that is used commonly in many dishes. It's possible that people may not be knowledgeable about what it entails, but I also wouldn't object if the link were to be removed. North America1000 06:41, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
Hmm, I think it is better to keep the link. Sainsf <^>Talk all words 06:58, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
That works for me. North America1000 07:47, 2 March 2016 (UTC)


### Prominence
I think a better name for this would be "In popular culture".
I disagree, because in this instance I feel that "Prominence" is more accurate, whereas "In popular culture" could be misinterpreted by readers as having less importance. For example, these types of sections are used in many articles to list various miscellaneous mentions of a topic in popular culture. North America1000 07:52, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
Oh, I see. Sainsf <^>Talk all words 07:53, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
@Sainsf: E.g. see 7 and 7 § In popular culture. North America1000 07:56, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
It's clearer to me now. Thanks. Sainsf <^>Talk all words 07:57, 2 March 2016 (UTC)


### Microbiology
Link lactic acid - it is the first mention in the main text
 Done. North America1000 04:06, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
Naem is not in italics in the last line
 Done. North America1000 04:06, 2 March 2016 (UTC)


### Use in dishes
How is this section different from "Variations"? I suggest a merger.
The Varieties section denotes various types of the sausage that are prepared and their flavor profiles, whereas the Use in dishes section denotes the overall product's use in various dishes as an ingredient. They are distinctly different concepts. North America1000 07:07, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
The vital info on preparation is only in the lead and not here.
The article has been reorganized, which has addressed this concern in the process. North America1000 10:03, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
Naem phat wun sen sai khai  No Thai for this?
Another user added the translations to the article. I am presently unable to provide translation with a certainty of accuracy (using Google Translate, which may create incorrect results). North America1000 07:04, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
Are we talking of pork in general or naem or som moo in the first few lines?
The sources refer to the product as naem. North America1000 07:10, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
A restaurant named Serenade Serenade in double quotes
 Done. North America1000 04:14, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
You mean Bangkok, right?
 Fixed. North America1000 04:08, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
 glass noodles and egg egg in plural
 Done. North America1000 04:13, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
such as spring onion and red pepper Onion in plural
 Done. North America1000 04:13, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
Please link cilantro and spring onion
 Done. North America1000 04:13, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
 risotto, slaw, shiitake mushrooms, herbs and cooked sea scallops Linking would be appreciated here.
 Done. North America1000 04:13, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
I love the gallery here, really great presentation!
Thanks! North America1000 04:13, 2 March 2016 (UTC)


### Nutritional content
Convert templates would be useful here
 Done. Convert templates have been added throughout the article (diff, diff). North America1000 07:44, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
If kilocalories is linked, also link protein, fat and carbohydrate
I disagree with this notion, per WP:OVERLINK. The latter terms are common, whereas kilocalorie may be confusing for some users because the term is not universally used, hence the link. North America1000 07:12, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
vitamins B1 and B2, ferric iron and phosphorus Links?
Prefer not to, per WP:OVERLINK. These are fairly common terms. North America1000 07:13, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
The amount of these vitamins and minerals were unspecified What does "were" mean? If you are referring to some study, you can say "A <year (optional)> study showed the presence of vitamins B1 and B2, ferric iron and phosphorus in naem, but the quantities were unspecified."
Y This suggestion has been incorporated into the section. North America1000 07:20, 2 March 2016 (UTC)


### Regulations on bacterial content
The binomial names must be in italics
 Fixed. North America1000 07:25, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
Convert templates would be useful.
I'm not sure if this is necessary in this instance. For example, per the gram article, "The gram is today the most widely used unit of measurement for non-liquid ingredients in cooking and grocery shopping worldwide." North America1000 07:25, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
I have seen them in use in several other articles (not food ones, I do not frequent them). Our task is simply to include them in the article, that is not a big deal. Sainsf <^>Talk all words 07:28, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
 Done. Convert templates have been added throughout the article (diff, diff). North America1000 07:43, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
Thai sour pork Oh, so is this a common name as well? Why is it not mentioned in the article?
As noted below, this entire section was added by another user and I am unable to access the source to expound upon it. As such, this is likely best left within this section only. North America1000 07:46, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
This can be an issue. I think we need to contact Takeaway so that he/she may inform us on the credibility of the source and if he/she has confused naem with some other dish. Sainsf <^>Talk all words 08:00, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
I believe this has been resolved per my research and copy edits to the article. The content was merged from the Thai Sour Pork article (see permanent link), which was about Thai sour pork products in general. As such, I have rewritten content in the "Regulations on bacterial content" section to read "The bacterial content in Thai sour pork products is regulated." Essentially, all Thai sour pork products are regulated as such, so naem is simply included in these regulations. North America1000 09:16, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
After research, the term "Thai sour pork" does not appear to be an alternate name for naem. North America1000 10:04, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
Thanks a ton for your efforts. I believe this clears this issue as well. Sainsf <^>Talk all words 10:13, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
Thai sour pork also has Why have you used "also"?
This entire section was added by Takeaway (diff). I have removed the word "also". North America1000 07:28, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
 Salmonella spp. Better write  Salmonella species. Link Salmonella
A tiny one left here... Sainsf <^>Talk all words 10:14, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
@Sainsf: I have removed the content regarding Salmonella because it's unlikely that 25 grams of the bacteria would be possible to be present. This was likely a typographical error, but since the source is inaccessible, best to remove. North America1000 10:28, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
0.1g --> 0.1 g check for similar instances.
Y Copy edited the section to add spacing. North America1000 07:33, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
What does "O157:H7" mean?
Rewrote this to include a direct link to the specific article: Escherichia coli O157:H7. North America1000 07:30, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
may cause sickness Any symptoms and cure?
There is no link to the source in the article, so unable to check it at this time to expand as suggested above. North America1000 07:37, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
It was just a suggestion, it's okay if there is no info just now. Sainsf <^>Talk all words 07:55, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
Can this section be merged with "Microbiology"?
Probably isn't necessary, because the Microbiology article deals with macro-level aspects of the topic, whereas this content is more micro-level, specific to this particular foodstuff. North America1000 07:36, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
Note: I believe the issue raised by Paul_012 at the article talk page needs to be taken into account. It would certainly be great if we could explore more of the naem 's role in southeast Asian cuisine than confine our knowledge just to Thai cuisine. Sainsf <^>Talk all words 03:07, 1 March 2016 (UTC)
Sources refer to naem specifically as a Thai food (e.g. [1], [2]), but they make no mention of Nem. As such, it seems that they are distinct, different foods. After several source searches, I am unable to find a source stating that these foods are variants of one-another (e.g. searches [3], [4], [5], [6], [7]). As such, they may not be variants of one-another. Per all of this, I have removed the phrase "the Vietnamese variant of naem" from the See also section (diff). North America1000 08:02, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
I have also removed this claim from the nem article (diff). North America1000 08:07, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
After extensive source searches, I have unfortunately not found reliable sources that expound upon the food's origin, nor about its relation to similar foods in neighbouring countries. North America1000 08:19, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
Thanks for your efforts. That should do away with the issues. Sainsf <^>Talk all words 08:57, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
Northamerica1000 This article looks awesome now. The sources look fine, the text is better and the images fantastic. I believe this meets the GA criteria. I promote this. Sainsf <^>Talk all words 10:36, 2 March 2016 (UTC)

The article reies heavily on sources that specifically delve into the commercial manufacturing of Naem, and the chemistry involved, in Thailand without actually researching the history of the foodstuff itself. The article, as it stands now, reflects this preoccupation with the technical side of the subject.
I did a quick search for more information on the connection between Thai "naem", Laotian "som moo" and the Vietnamese "nem chua" and found the following links:
1. http://shesimmers.com/2010/12/khao-pad-nam-thai-style-fried-rice-with.html (*Also known as Nem chua in Vietnamese and som mu (ສົ້ມໝູ), literally “sour pork,” in Lao.)
2. https://books.google.com/books?id=BwsdIHinRfMC&pg=PA136&lpg=PA136&dq=nem+chua+thai+naem&source=bl&ots=st5hcSJ1vj&sig=uk20lr6W0JNZkcE5jnr4LSdsZ9Y&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjsy67m56HLAhXIEywKHSTpADoQ6AEIUTAJ#v=onepage&q=nem%20chua%20thai%20naem&f=false (Also known as som moo (Laos) or nem chua (Vietnam))
3. http://pirun.ku.ac.th/~b5511304042/page/food.html (สูตรอาหารเวียดนาม : ขั้นตอนการทำแหนมเนือง; translation: "Vietnamese food recipe: How to make naem nueang")
4. http://www.canardumekong.com/2013/05/riz-saute-au-naem.html (Les Vietnamiens auront tout de suite reconnu que la charcuterie évoquée est ce qu'ils désignent par nem chua, qu'on peut traduire par nem aigre... il est toujours bon de rappeler qu'au Vietnam, il existe des mots génériques, classificateurs et qu'en cuisine, nem désigne une spécialité de porc haché, comme les boulettes nem nướng ou les célébrissimes pâtés impériaux nem rán, passés à la postérité en nem tout court.)
The article also seems to focus on the pork version of naem ("naem mu") as if that were the only type of naem. There is also, although less popular, naem made from beef (แหนมเนื้อ; naem nuea; see this Google image search.)
In addition, in northern Thailand the sausage is called "chin som" and can also be made from water buffalo (see http://library.cmu.ac.th/ntic/en_lannafood/detail_lannafood.php?id_food=144).
It would seem that the article is not complete at the moment. - Takeaway (talk) 11:08, 3 March 2016 (UTC)
Northamerica1000, would you please look into this? It is not a GA issue actually, the review need not have waited for the expansion unless there was serious lack of info in the article. The discussion may be shifted to the article talk. Sainsf <^>Talk all words 13:54, 3 March 2016 (UTC)