Bamboo Shoot Salad with Shrimp and Pork-Goi Mang voi Tom va Thit Heo

1 lb freshly cooked bamboo shoot
1/2 lb pork, keep it whole in 1 piece
1/2 lb shrimp with shell, thawed if frozen
2-3 Tbs roasted, crushed peanuts (omit if you do not like peanut)
2 Tbs Fish sauce
1 medium garlic cloves, crushed
1 small, hot red pepper, thinly sliced
1-2 tsp Sugar ( use 1 tsp first, then taste and add more to you liking)
2 Tbs lime juice
A few mint leaves, cilantro, or Vietnamese cilantro (Rau ram), thinly sliced
Garnish with deep fried shallot (optional)

    Dear friends, to some of you may never want to try this but I just want to introduce this dish to you because it is a popular dish of Vietnam rural areas and you can use other vegetables instead of bamboo shoots in this basic recipe.  People just harvest bamboo shoots from the wood and  bring them home, peel the tough layers,boil them. and use them in salad, soup, stew, stir-fry, etc. beyond what you can imagine what a little  bamboo shoot can be used. We do not have the luxury of freshly cooked bamboo here.  There several kinds: some turn yellow when fully cooked, other stays white.  The only one I've tried so far here are yellow, cooked and sold whole in a plastic bag about 2-3 lb each.  You may use canned whole bamboo shoots too.

1. Use your finger nail and pinch into the shoot around nodes, discard the tough sections( Usually the last few nodes toward the ends)  Thinly slice lengthwise at the tips, and crosswise at the bases .  Blanching them in boiling water about 5 minutes to refresh the taste.  Rinse and drain well.  You can freeze left over bamboo shoot and use it in stir-fried dish as other vegetable too.
2.  Put pork in a small pot, cover with water, bring it boil over medium high heat.  Turn the heat down to medium low, cover with a lid and simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove pork, drop it into a bow of ice water.  When the pork is cool, slice into thinly slices. Turn the heat up to medium high, add shrimp to the same pot which pork was cooked and cook a few minutes until shrimp turns pink.  Turn off the heat, remove shrimp, drop shrimp into the same ice water bowl until cool, peel, and slice in 1/2 lengthwise (optional) 
3. Mix crushed garlic, fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, and hot pepper.  Taste and adjust seasoning if need.
4. Combine bamboo shoot, pork, shrimp, minced fresh herb.  Add 2/3 of fish sauce mixture, taste and adjust to your liking. Sprinkle peanut, and deep fried shallot on top.  Serve cool at room temperature with extra sauce at the side and cooked rice.