Salor tapeng sach chrouk.
(Bamboo shoots soup with pork.)

This Khmer Krom soup with pork and bamboo shoot is very easy to make and absolutely delicious. Back home, we use mainly fresh bamboo shoots for this soup.
Bamboo is one of the most useful plants. Some people believes bamboo was planted on earth by Thevada ”angels,” because one can see the resembling image of bamboo tree on the full moon. When bamboo tree mature it stay the same size, but the more you cut the bamboo shoot the faster the bamboo shoot grow back. Bamboo tree produces many things, such as music instruments, baskets, furniture, toys and more. Bamboo shoot is edible,it is very popular in Khmer Krom cooking, because it is tasty, with high protein, vitamin B, and it help improves poor blood circulation.
Cambodia used to have so much bamboo, that the Ancient Khmer burnt bamboo trees to cook instead wood. The Ancient Khmer also used the bamboo charcoal for air freshener and sprinkled around the food area to keep the ants and bugs away. So next time, if you burnt food, don’t panic, put some bamboo charcoal on top, close the lid for few minutes, and let the charcoal remove the odor for you.

• Ingredients :
  • 4 Cups water
  • ½ lb Country ribs pork meat, sliced thin
  • 1 lb bamboo shoot, rinsed and sliced thin
  • 2 Tablespoons fish sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar
  • ¼ Teaspoon black pepper
  • 3 Stalks green onion, chopped
• Procedures :
  Boil water in a soup pot.
  When water bubbling add pork meat and bamboo shoot, and cook till meat tender.
  Seasoning with fish sauce, sugar and black pepper.
  Top with green onion.
  Serve hot with rice.