Fresh water small fish, Ngasang (Esomus danricus), were smoked and sun dried until they crumbled. The petioles of an aroid plant, Khonagu (Alocasia macrorhiza) were cut into small pieces, washed with water and sun dried for an hour. The crumbled fish powder was crushed with plant material in a 1:1 ratio using a stone mortar and pestle to make a paste. The mixture was kneaded with clean hands to produce ball-shaped pieces, and fermentation was allowed by keeping the mixture at room temperature for 5–6 days in an earthen pot containing a thin layer of banana leaves. The ball-shaped pieces were taken out from the pot and mixed with onions and mustard oil. The mixture was kneaded again using a stone mortar and pestle and made into a ball shape. The ball-shaped pieces were kept again inside the earthen pot containing banana leaves for 2–3 days. The fermented non-salted fish product, Hentak, was brought to the laboratory for the bacterial isolation process. The involvement of fish in the experiments was approved by the Government of India Ethical Committee (IAEC-LC 05/13).