Instructions: Shell and butterfly shrimp. Keep raw, or sear quickly over red hot coals to partially cook. Arrange on a serving platter.

Crush chiles and garlic together with a heavy mortar and pestle to make a coarse paste. Add fish sauce and lime juice. Stir in a small amount of sugar to blend and intensify the sour flavor without making the sauce sweet. Stir well to blend.

Spoon sauce over shrimp and sprinkle with chopped green onion, cilantro and mint leaves.

Note: Truly live dancing shrimp served at various locales along the Mekong River are made with miniature freshwater shrimp. But, to be safe, it is best to use ocean shrimp to avoid the risk of contamination from animal waste that may have washed into freshwater sources.

If the shrimp are soaked in the incendiary sauce long enough, the lime juice will cook them and turn them pink, but their texture will remain lusciously tender and their sweet, natural flavor will be retained.

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