Instructions: * Note: Drain the vinegar from enough prik dong (pickled red chili) to yield two tablespoons of drained, sliced Thai chile peppers, and drain the fish sauce from enough nam pla prik (green chilis in fish sauce) to yield two tablespoons of drained, sliced Thai chile peppers.

Drop the shrimp, still with their heads and shells, into boiling water and blanche for no more than 30 seconds. De-head and de-vein the shrimp, and discard all the shells but the tails. Place the shrimp in a bowl and add the fish sauce, lime juice, tamarind sauce and chili powder, and leave to marinate for about an hour. Toss with the remaining ingredients to combine.

Garnish with cucumber slices and lime wedges and serve with sticky rice or Thai jasmine rice.

Comments: In the Isan (Northeast Thailand), this dish is sometimes prepared with raw shrimp. This variant is known as pla kung lao (ie shrimp prepared in the Laotian style). In essence the shrimp are "cooked" in the lime juice, which induces chemical changes in the shrimp meat. However the dish has a Thai variant (pla kung korat or simply pla kung) in which the shrimp are "blanched" in the manner typically used for vegetables.

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