From Fish Without a Doubt, by Rick Moonen and Roy Finamore

Makes about 24 fritters

For the dipping sauce:
⅓ cup fish sauce
⅓ cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
1 small habañero chile, cut into
thin rings (or 2 serranos, minced, with seeds)

Stir the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, garlic and chile together in a small bowl. Let the sauce sit for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.

For the fritters:
2 large eggs
⅓ cup cold seltzer or club soda
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
¾ cup self-rising cake flour, plus more if needed (NOTE: You can
substitute regular cake flour, but add ½ teaspoon baking powder
and ¼ teaspoon coarse salt.)
1¼ pounds large shrimp (21-30 count), shelled and chopped, or 1
pound rock shrimp
½ cup red onion, minced
½ cup red bell pepper, minced
¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Peanut or vegetable oil for deep frying

Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl to break them up. Pour in the seltzer or club soda and lime juice and whisk until smooth. The mixture will foam up. Add the flour and whisk until you have a smooth batter. Stir in the shrimp, onion, red pepper and cilantro.

Heat at least 3 inches of oil in a wide, deep pot (a cast-iron Dutch oven is ideal) to 350 to 365 degrees. Set a rack over a baking sheet next to the stove.

When the oil is hot, drop in heaping tablespoons of batter. Don’t crowd them or the oil temperature will drop too much and the fritters will be greasy. Fry the fritters, turning them with a spider or slotted
spoon so they cook evenly, until golden brown and cooked through, about 3 minutes. Remove with the spider spoon to the rack to drain.

Spoon out any little bits of fritter from the oil before adding the next batch.

If the fritters really break apart when you add them to the oil, it means the batter is a bit too thin, so stir in another tablespoon or two of flour.

For serving:
1 head Boston or other tender lettuce
Fresh mint or cilantro leaves

To serve, set out the bowl of sauce. Pile the fritters onto a platter and surround with the lettuce leaves and a pile of herb leaves so everyone can wrap a fritter and some herb leaves in lettuce and dip into the sauce.