Mee Krob is a Thai dish influenced by Chinese cuisine. The name means “crispy noodles”. It is made with rice noodles and topped with a sweet and sour sauce characterised by an acidic flavour such as tamarind sauce or lime juice. The dish originally featured ‘somsar’, a type of citrus fruit which is really hard to find now. Mee krop can be served as an entrée, snack or appetiser. 

According to Wikipedia, King Rama V visited the people in the Talad Phlu area by boat. On smelling the noodles that a Chinese immigrant was stir-frying at that time he stopped the boat, ate it, and very much liked it. This led to the dish receiving another name: Mi krop ror ha.(Rorha is Rama 5)

They are a few different recipes, with the most sophisticated one being ‘Mee krob chow wang’ meaning the palace recipe. That recipe involves many ingredients however, so it is not one you find on street.

Living outside Thailand I certainly won’t share the more difficult recipe! I’m doing the simple one as I want everyone to be able to make this dish at home. 

Ingredients

100 g dried thin rice noodle

30g   shallots

100g palm sugar

100g white sugar

1 tbsp Tamarind sauce 

1 tbsp lime juice

3 tbsp Tomato sauce

1 tbsp chilli sauce

1 tbsp salted Soy Bean 

1 tbsp Fish sauce

½ tsp salt or to taste

80g Cashew nuts

2 g Kafir lime leaves 

10 g Dried chilli or optional 

Oil to deep fry around 2 cups

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Method

1. Heat oil in a deep wok over medium heat until hot. Use a thermometer if you have one and wait for it to reach about 180c. Add only a small bunch of noodles each time. If the oil is hot enough the noodles should expand and be crispy within a second. Remove with a mesh skimmer and drain on a paper towel. Set aside.

2. Deep fry the cashew nuts, dried chilli and kafir leaves and set aside.

3. Remove most of the oil in the wok, retaining approximately 2 tbsp. Heat and stir-fry the shallots until fragrant, then add sugar and all sauces except the lime juice. When the sugar is dissolved and the sauce is thickening add the lime juice and taste, adjusting to obtain a balance of sweet, sour and salty flavours.

4 Reduce the heat, gently add the crispy noodles and gently mix in the sauce. 

5. Top the noodles with the fried cashew nuts, fried chilli and fried kafir lime leaves.