Fresh-Catch Plate · Fish Sauce Marinated Shrimp

Kung Chae Nam Pla (Raw Shrimp in Fish Sauce)

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The shrimp are served still twitching in some seaside restaurants — a sign to diners that they came straight off the boat that morning rather than off ice.

Live or just-caught shrimp are shelled and marinated briefly in a sharp mix of fish sauce, lime juice, garlic and chili, then served ice-cold with the marinade as a dipping sauce. It's a staple starter at open-air seafood restaurants along the eastern seaboard's fishing piers.

Why it's made this way: The dish depends entirely on shrimp fresh enough to eat raw, which is why it's most closely associated with active fishing towns along the Chonburi and Rayong coast rather than inland Thai cities.