Sadao are flower buds which grow on trees in Cambodia and surrounding regions. At first taste, the flowers are extremely bitter, more bitter than bitter melon, however the bitterness is soon lost in their unique flavor and slightly sweet aftertaste. Those not familiar with Sadao often find it too bitter to handle, but after a few bites most people turn into devoted fans. Sadao can be found frozen or fresh in most asian grocery stores (in Seattle at least).

Ingredients:
-1 package sadao flower (frozen l package = 1lb)
-1 lb pork belly
-1 tilapia (1-2lbs)
-3 pickling cucumbers
-dấp cá and tía tô herbs

What to Do:
Thaw sadao flowers and drop into a pot of boiling water and give a quick stir. Remove from heat, allow sadao (in water) to cool (cool enough to handle). Remove sadao from water and strip the flowers off the stem (hold the stem with one hand and use the other hand to “strip” the flowers starting from the bottom of the stem to the tip). Boil pork and slice thin, clean and grill fish, de-bone and flake into bite size pieces. Slice cucumbers and chop herbs. Finally mix everything together and serve with tamarind sauce.

Tamarind Sauce:
Follow the basic recipe for fish sauce. Replace lime juice with sour tamarind juice and use palm sugar instead of table sugar.