Banana blossoms are found in salads throughout Southeast Asia, usually flavored by a dressing that includes lime juice, fish sauce and sugar. Their beautiful purple-red outer leaves sometimes are used as cups in which the salads are served. They are available at Super H Mart, as are the rest of the ingredients in this dish.

The recipe calls for several garnishes, among them a pungent shrimp powder that might not be appealing to some Westerners’ tastes. If using the dried-shrimp garnish, you’ll need to soak and drain the shrimp at least 8 hours in advance, or they will be too damp to pulverize. Both the dressing and the sliced banana blossoms need to stand for at least 30 minutes before the dish can be assembled.

This salad can be accompanied by sticky rice.