This recipe is from an Anonymous Griller.

For a milder dish, use fewer Thai chiles and seed the serranos before mincing them. Start to finish: 30 min

1 lb jumbo (8 to 12 per lb) shrimp
2 teaspoons sea salt dissolved in 1 cup water
4 to 8 (1- to 2-inch) fresh red Thai chiles, minced
2 fresh serrano or jalapeño chiles (preferably red), minced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce (preferably Thai naam pla)
3 to 4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 to 3 teaspoons sugar
2 stalks fresh lemongrass
2 small shallots, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise (1/4 cup)
2 scallions (white parts and half of greens), thinly sliced
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, torn into pieces

Accompaniments: green-leaf lettuce, sliced tomato, and fresh cilantro or mint sprigs.

Prepare grill for cooking. Soak shrimp (still in shells) in salt water 5 minutes, then rinse well in a colander. Pound all chiles with garlic to a coarse paste with a mortar and pestle and stir in fish sauce and lime juice and sugar to taste. Transfer to a large bowl. Snip shells of shrimp with scissors down center of back, from wide end to second-to-last tail section. Butterfly shrimp in their shells, making a deep incision along length of back where shells are cut, and devein.

Discard tough outer leaves of lemongrass and trim root ends. Thinly slice lower 6 inches of stalks. Grill shrimp on their sides in a hot well-seasoned ridged grill pan over moderate heat, until shells are pink and slightly charred and shrimp are just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Toss shrimp (with shells still on) with chile mixture and stir in sliced lemongrass, shallots, scallions, and mint. Serve on a bed of lettuce and tomato with cilantro or mint.

Serves 4 as a first course.