Soak the dried shrimp in a small bowl in just enough water to cover the shrimp.

Fry the finely chopped bacon until crisp then set aside to cool down.

Make your dressing by combining the fish sauce, lime juice, finely chopped garlic cloves, birds-eye chilli, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Adjust ingredients to taste: if it’s too salty, add a little more sugar; if you prefer more bite, add more chilli. Ensure the flavours are balanced, then leave to sit so flavours meld together.

Remove the heads, tails and spines of the small dried smoked fish. Using a pestle, pound the remainder of the smoked fish in a mortar, pulling out and discarding the skin which will rise to the surface, then feel for any tiny sharp bones and pull those out. Set aside.

Slice the cucumbers into 1cm thick rounds (note: some Cambodians remove the seeds, others don’t; do as you prefer), roughly slice the red capsicum / bell pepper, finely chop a shallot / small white onion, and pop into a salad bowl.

Drain and pat dry the dried shrimp, add half to the mortar, pound lightly, and add the pounded dried shrimp, half the pounded dried smoked fish and half the pounded peanuts to the salad bowl and combine.

Add the dressing to the salad bowl, little by little, combining, and tasting.

Add half the fresh herbs to the salad bowl, lightly combine, and then serve onto a plate, piling it into a mound loosely, as pictured above.

Sprinkle the remaining pounded smoked fish, dried shrimp, crushed peanuts, and fresh fragrant herbs on top and served immediately.