Mi Krop (Mee krob)

Mi krop is one of those dishes that is often done badly in Thai restaurants but can be fantastic when made well. Opart Thai used to have a pretty solid version of Mi krob (though I haven't had theirs in a while). TAC Quick has Mi krob on the menu, though for some reason, I don't think I've tried theirs. We made it at home a few weeks ago. It turned out great, though next time I will use Thompson's trick of soaking the noodles briefly, then coating them in egg white the day before to help them stay crisp. Our noodles wilted a little once the sauce was added. I sort of hybridized recipes from various cookbooks for this.
BR had a terrific picture of mi krop (among many terrific pictures) in this thread.


Fried rice stick noodles



Prep (not-shown: tamarind liquid): rice vinegar, soy, fish sauce, yellow bean sauce, fried cubed tofu, chicken, ground pork, shrimp (not shown), tomato paste, shallots, garlic, chiles, palm sugar and lime.



Finished dish (garnished with bell pepper, cilantro, pickled garlic):

You're really killing me with all of your pictures you know - they all look fantastic. I never realized how popular mi krap is in Thailand, but it is hugely popular, particularly in Bangkok where you can find it at thousands of food stalls, and the bags of them sell like hotcakes.

The problem with the dish in the US is that the version often served here is cloyingly sweet and completely unbalanced - more like candy. In Thailand, they generally use what seems to translate to sour orange (som sa, sam sa or saom saa) to give the dish its unique flavor and lightly sweet but sour balance, but I was told there that the orange-type flavor is more characteristic of both orange and lime (more orange, but really, really sour). I notice that you used lime as the citrus which is what I've typically seen used here (and tried myself) in recipes, in addition to the tamarind. Many versions in Bangkok also incorporated hot chile peppers to add some moderate heat to the dish.

What impresses me about your mi krap is that I can tell from the picture that it does not have that glowing overly sticky appearance that is too often found here - looks like you really achieved the right balance. I've been planning on trying it again soon and was thinking of going to Latin markets to get sour oranges and combining that with lime. Thanks for the inspiration.

BR wrote: I've been planning on trying it again soon and was thinking of going to Latin markets to get sour oranges and combining that with lime. Thanks for the inspiration.

Thanks BR! Your pics from Thailand planted the seed that got me thinking about this dish. Great idea about the sour orange. They have them at Fresh Farms on Devon. I may have to try using them for my next batch.

BR wrote:I never realized how popular mi krap is in Thailand

The aroma of mi krap isn't very popular in my household.

I tried a modification of David Thompson's mi krop recipe (basically, I added pork, shrimp, chicken and tofu as his recipe does not include any protein).
His recipe includes a lot of Thai yellow bean sauce (dao jiao-I cup!), which gets pureed, eggs to thicken the sauce, and a lot of sugar (also 1 cup). I have to say. I liked my last batch better. This recipe was just O.k. (one of the few from Thompson's cookbooks I didn't think was at least very good). I couldn't find sour orange (they didn't have it at Fresh Farms this trip) so I used Thompson's suggestion of mandarin and lime juices and I did really like the flavor from the mandarin. I've been making Mi Krob for a looong time (it was one of the first Thai dishes I made in college) and I have to say that riffs on my old, battered 1986 cookbook by Pojanee Vatanapan turn out the best. I think my next batch will be based on this cookbook with the addition of either sour orange or mandarin/lime juice.

Thai yellow bean paste (prior to pureeing)


Prep (cilantro, garlic, peppercorn paste, mandarin zest, shallots, Chinese chives, hot pepper, citrus juices, bean sprouts, sugar, eggs, pickled garlic, pureed bean paste)


Finished dish