Saturday, October 24, 2009

Pink Saturday - Mee Krob

Pink Saturday - Beverly, at the blog "How Sweet the Sound" hosts Pink Saturday. Let the color pink inspire you!


In my personal opinion, one of the most highly addictive substances known to mankind is the Thai noodle appetizer called Mee Krob.

Rice noodles are plunged into hot oil so they flash-fry, puff slightly and get crispy, and then are dressed in a sweet-salty dressing, tossed with bean sprouts, chopped cabbage, chunks of chicken or shrimp, and cilantro.

When you pick it up with your fork or chopsticks, it's a tangle of stiffly curled noodles, clinging together, and crunching between your teeth with a sweetness and a salty tang. It's like Thai Kettle Corn. It's that addictive.

The place I like to get Thai food is Cholada Beach, right on Pacific Coast Highway across from Topanga Beach. It's a little seaside shack, with seating in a screened-in porch and more seating outside in the back. When you come inside, there's usually a couple of kitchen helpers sitting at a table near the counter, pulling leaves off stems of fresh herbs from the market.

The way they make Mee Krob, it's a dusky temping pink, with big chunks of cooked chicken, and a couple of big succulent shrimp. The dressing is traditionally made with a mixture of something sweet - palm sugar - something salty - Thai fish sauce - and something sour. In some recipes it's vinegar and lime juice. In other recipes, they call for lime juice and tamarind juice. I think Cholada uses tamarind juice. It must be the reason the meat and shrimp are suffused with a deep pink stain from the dressing.

The combination of sweet and salty, and the wonderfully puffy crunch makes you want to keep on shoveling it into your mouth. This is the kind of dish compulsive eaters go for to soothe their wounded souls - after all, wasn't this a favorite dish of Carrie Bradshaw, the fictional heroine of "Sex in the City"?

After all that pink sweetness you need to refresh the palate with something else. I've just discovered a salad dish called Nam Sod Kao Tod.

This is made with with cooked rice, mixed with spices and egg and formed into patties, then fried until it's crispy. You can tell this is one of the great universal recipes for using leftovers.

After the rices is fried crispy and let to drain, ground meat, seasoned with garlic and mashed together with rice is steamed until just cooked. Traditionally, pork is used but here at Cholada Beach they use ground chicken breast.

The crumbly ground meat is tossed with red onions, bean sprouts, cabbage and slivers of ginger or galangal. Then the cakes of crispy fried rice are broken up and tossed with the meat and vegetables. It's all dressed with lime juice and fish sauce, and garnished with flaked red chile and roasted peanuts.


After the Mee Krob, it puckers your mouth refreshingly, and gives a nice chile bite.

Thai food is known for balancing the combination of sweet, sour, hot and salty all in the same dish. It's also known for it's visual appeal - a pretty presentation on the plate.

If you haven't tried Mee Krob, think about it for this Pink Saturday's dinner.

17 comments:

  1. Oh my! I've never tasted this treat before and now I must! Happy Pink Saturday, Glennis.

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  2. I do want to try it! A new Thai dish to me. Happy Pink Saturday!

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  3. Happy Pink Saturday!


    Love this dish...and of course I am hungry now...



    ~ Gabriela ~

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  4. That looks wonderfully delicious.

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  5. Not a nice thing to do to someone who a) hasn't had breakfast yet and b) has no source for Thai food. This sounds amazing and is so pretty.

    Sue

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  6. Wow; I haven't eaten nor thought about mee crob in years but it is delicious; gotta get me some. Great, mouth watering photos too.

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  7. What a wonderful post. I so love folks who love food. Your description of Mee Krob was letter perfect and your photos are terrific. I hope you are having a wonderful Pink Saturday.

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  8. Great now I need to try this it looks very yummy! Happy Pink Saturday! Hugs Grace

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  9. Now you've done it! It's not even noon and I'm starving!

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  10. ok, now you did it, Im hungry and I was just starting my diet. :)
    great blog, hope you have a happy pink saturday

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  11. Okay, Glennis. I'm on my way to pick you on right now. I think I have to try this.

    Happy Pink Saturday.

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  12. MMMM That looks delicious! Now I feel like some Thai Food! Thanks for the idea! Have a great weekend and Happy Pink Saturday : ) Sherri

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  13. It looks positively delish! I have never had thai food. Unless you count this restaurant called Oodles of Noodles that opened in Willow Grove a few years ago Thai! I am sure I would love it. I haven't (sadly) met too many foods that I do not love! Great pink pictures for sure!

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  14. Wow, I am dying to try this stuff. I wonder if we can find it tn small town USA. I hope so. Love your text. It does make me hungry.

    Hugs, Jeanne

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  15. I am wary of Thai food because of the HEAT (apparently, my mouth is rather wimpy when it comes to spice), but Oh. My. that looks SOoooo good!!

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  16. thai individuals dont actually use chopsticks, they have had the fork since the twelth century using it to push food upon a spoon then using the spoon to eat. so you shouldnt be picking up your mi krop (mee krob) with chopsticks in the first place.

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