Photo: Bitterschoko · CC0
Mi Krop (Crisp Fried Rice Vermicelli in Sweet-Sour Glaze)
A Bangkok dish of dry rice vermicelli dropped unsoaked into hot oil so it puffs at once, then tossed in a sweet-sour sauce reduced thick. The name means "crisp noodles". The sour note often comes from the peel of som sa, a Thai citrus like citron.
Ingredients
- Noodles
- dry rice vermicelli · the thinnest100 g
- oil for frying1 l
- tofu · firm, cut into thin sticks150 g
- prawns · peeled150 g
- Sauce
- palm sugar80 g
- tamarind paste2 tbsp
- fish sauce2 tbsp
- vinegar1 tbsp
- som sa peel · or half lime, half orange peel, finely shredded1 tbsp
- shallots · thinly sliced3
- garlic · chopped3 cloves
- To serve
- bean sprouts100 g
- garlic chives · 4cm lengths1 handful
- coriander1 handful
- red chilli · shredded1
Steps
Break the vermicelli by hand into handfuls, straight from the packet. Do not wet it.
- ⏲ 10 sec
Heat the oil to 190°C. A handful dropped in puffs white and floats within seconds. Turn it at once to puff the other side, lift it out and drain. Fry the rest the same way (deep-frying).
- ⏲ 4 min
In the same oil, fry the tofu golden, then the prawns until they change colour, and lift them out.
- ⏲ 3 min
Put 2 tablespoons of the frying oil in a pan and fry the shallots and garlic golden.
- ⏲ 6 min
Add the palm sugar, tamarind, fish sauce and vinegar and reduce over medium heat. When the bubbles turn large and the sauce pulls into a thread from the spoon, stir in the som sa peel (what sugar does).
Take it off the heat, coat the tofu and prawns in the sauce, then add the fried noodles and turn them quickly with two spatulas until evenly coated.
Pile it on a plate at once and serve with the bean sprouts, chives, coriander and chilli.
Variations
- Mi krop ror ha. "Rama V's crisp noodles", after the legend of the king tasting them; the old shops of Talad Phlu in Bangkok use the name.
- Less sweet. Cut the palm sugar and add more tamarind.
- With egg. Top with a thin omelette cut into strips.
Tips
- Do not wet the noodles. They puff only when fried dry.
- Get the oil properly hot. They should puff within seconds.
- Reduce the sauce until it pulls into a thread.
- Serve as soon as it is tossed. It goes soft as it waits.
More detail and the reasons why (2)
- Dry noodles, the opposite start to pad thai. Pad thai soaks its noodles in lukewarm water and softens them in the pan. Mi krop puts the same rice noodles straight into hot oil without soaking them. Noodles that are holding water do not puff in the oil at once.
- The sauce is not meant to soak in. Nanbanzuke steeps fried fish in a thin marinade so that it drinks it on purpose. Mi krop reduces its sauce until very little water is left and tosses the noodles briefly off the heat, so the sauce coats the outside without collapsing the crunch.
The basics behind this dish
- Dough and Gluten: When to Build It and When to Avoid ItThe same flour and water becomes a dumpling wrapper or a tender pancake. The difference is whether you built gluten or avoided it — and kneading and resting do different jobs.
- Why Sauces Split: Emulsions and Pan SaucesA cream sauce breaking and a carbonara scrambling are the same failure. Temperature and emulsifiers — plus how to bring a split sauce back.
- Knife Skills: Grip, Cuts, and Why Size MattersHow you hold the knife matters more than how fast you cut. The pinch grip, the claw hand, and why uniform size is a cooking decision rather than a cosmetic one.
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