Mì Quảng
Quảng Nam's turmeric noodles: wide rice noodles with a small, intense pork and prawn broth, roasted peanuts, toasted sesame rice crackers and a heap of herbs.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 50 min
- Rest
- None
- Total
- 1 hr 20 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Spice
- Mild
- Cost
- A bit special$16–28 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Mì Quảng is a noodle dish with only a little broth, a ladle of it, enough to wet the noodles rather than drown them. The noodles are wide, flat and yellow with turmeric. The topping is pork and prawns cooked with shallot, garlic, turmeric and annatto into a rich, savoury, slightly sweet base, then loosened with prawn-shell stock. On top go roasted peanuts, hard-boiled eggs and pieces of toasted sesame rice cracker, and underneath a bed of lettuce, herbs and bean sprouts. Outside central Vietnam the fresh noodles are hard to find; wide dried rice noodles, boiled with a pinch of turmeric, are the workable home option.
What you'll need
21 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
- Topping
- Noodles
- To serve
Ingredients
Topping
- Pork, belly or shoulder, thinly sliced300 g
- Prawn, raw, shell on, heads on if possible300 g
- Shallot, minced; half for the marinade, half for frying4
- Garlic, minced4 clove
- Turmeric, ground; 1 tsp for the meat, 1/2 tsp for the noodle water7.4 ml
- Fish sauce44 ml
- Sugar15 ml
- Black pepper2½ ml
- Achiote, annatto seeds, for colour (optional)4.9 ml
- Neutral oil44 ml
- Chicken stock, or pork stock1 l
Noodles
- Flat rice noodles, wide dried rice noodles about 1 cm across, or fresh mì Quảng noodles if you find them400 g
To serve
- Egg, hard-boiled and halved, or 12 quail eggs4
- Peanuts, roasted and roughly crushed60 g
- Rice paper, sesame rice crackers (bánh tráng mè), or rice paper scattered with sesame4 sheet
- Lettuce, shredded½
- Mint1 bunch
- Mixed herbs, perilla, Vietnamese coriander, and sliced banana blossom if you have it1 bunch
- Bean sprouts150 g
- Lime, in wedges2
- Fresh chilli, sliced2
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Peel the prawns, keeping the heads and shells. Toss the pork and the prawns, in separate bowls, with half the shallot, the garlic, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tbsp fish sauce, the sugar and pepper, and leave for 20 minutes.
20 min
Step 2
Fry the prawn heads and shells in 1 tbsp oil in a saucepan for 3 minutes, pressing on the heads, then add the stock and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain and keep the stock. Meanwhile boil the eggs for 9 minutes, cool them in cold water, peel and halve.
20 min
Tip: The heads give the broth its colour and depth. If your prawns came without them, use the stock as it is.
Step 3
Warm the remaining oil with the annatto seeds in a wok over low heat for 2 minutes until red, then discard the seeds. Fry the rest of the shallot until golden, add the pork and cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes until browned, then add the prawns for 2 minutes until pink. Lift the prawns out so they do not toughen.
10 min
Step 4
Pour in the prawn stock and the remaining fish sauce and simmer for 10 minutes. It should taste strong, salty and a little sweet; this is a concentrated broth, not a soup. Return the prawns for the last minute.
10 min
Step 5
Boil the noodles with the remaining turmeric as the packet says, usually 6 to 8 minutes for wide dried noodles, until tender but firm, then drain and rinse briefly. Toast the rice crackers over a gas flame with tongs, or microwave them for about a minute, until puffed and crisp.
10 min
Step 6
Put lettuce, mint, the other herbs and bean sprouts in wide bowls and top with noodles, pork, prawns and egg halves. Ladle over just enough hot broth to come a third of the way up the noodles. Scatter with peanuts and serve with lime, chilli and a cracker to break over the top.
5 min
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 746 kcal
- Protein
- 56.8 g
- Carbs
- 55.6 g
- Fat
- 34.2 g
- Saturated fat
- 7.6 g
- Fibre
- 6.3 g
- Sugar
- 10.6 g
- Sodium
- 2278 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Fish
- Shellfish
- Peanuts
- Eggs
- Sesame
- Soy
- Dairy-free
- Gluten-free
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 12 November.
Substitutions
Pork and prawns → Chicken thighs
Mì Quảng gà is just as common. Brown bone-in pieces and simmer them in the broth for 25 minutes.
Sesame rice crackers → Prawn crackers
A different taste but the same crunch to break over the bowl.
Tips
- Keep the broth shallow. Mì Quảng in a full bowl of soup is a different dish.
- Banana blossom, sliced thin and kept in lemon water until needed, is the classic extra on the herb plate.
- The topping and broth keep for two days in the fridge. Cook the noodles fresh.
History & culture
Mì Quảng is the everyday dish of Quảng Nam and Đà Nẵng, eaten for breakfast and lunch at markets and roadside shops, and the dish Quảng Nam people abroad cook to feel at home. Toppings change with the cook: pork and prawn, chicken, fish or frog. The rice cracker is broken over the bowl by hand.
Quảng Nam was the heartland of the Cham kingdom before Vietnamese settlers arrived from the 15th century, and later home to the trading port of Hoi An. Mì Quảng is often said to combine those strands: rice noodles, Chinese-style stock and southern spice. Its exact origin is unrecorded, but it has been the province's own dish for at least a century.
Modern adaptation — In Quảng Nam the noodles are made fresh each morning from rice batter tinted with turmeric, steamed in sheets and cut wide; they are thicker and chewier than dried noodles. Wide dried rice noodles boiled with turmeric are the honest home option. Sesame rice crackers (bánh tráng mè) are sold in Vietnamese shops; plain rice paper scattered with sesame and microwaved until puffed is a fair stand-in.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Mì Quảng take?
1 hr 20 min all in — 30 min prep, 50 min cook. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 4 bowls. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Medium.
How spicy is it?
Mild.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Fish, Shellfish, Peanuts, Eggs, Sesame, Soy. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Dairy-free, Gluten-free.
8 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
A bit special — about $16–28 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Saucepan, Wok, Mixing bowl, Tongs, Chef's knife, Cutting board.
How much salt do I put in?
This recipe does not list salt as its own ingredient. Saltiness comes from Fish sauce — 3 tbsp. Taste at the end rather than adding a number we did not write.
How much fish sauce?
3 tbsp of Fish sauce.
How much sugar?
1 tbsp of Sugar.
What can I use instead?
Pork and prawns → Chicken thighs. Mì Quảng gà is just as common. Brown bone-in pieces and simmer them in the broth for 25 minutes. Sesame rice crackers → Prawn crackers. A different taste but the same crunch to break over the bowl.
Any tips from this recipe?
Keep the broth shallow. Mì Quảng in a full bowl of soup is a different dish. Banana blossom, sliced thin and kept in lemon water until needed, is the classic extra on the herb plate. The topping and broth keep for two days in the fridge. Cook the noodles fresh.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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