Sweet Sticky Noodles -- Mee Krob (Thailand)

Crisp and syrupy sweet, these noodles are hard to resist.
The crucial step is to boil the sauce down to a thick glaze.
If the sauce has too much liquid, the noodles will be soggy.

Combine sugar, water, ketchup, tomato paste, lemon juice and 1 tablespoon fish sauce in a measuring cup; set aside.
Half fill a small saucepan with water; bring to a boil. Add carrot; boil 1 minute.
Drain and set aside.
Combine egg and flour in a small bowl; set aside.
Heat oil in a wok to 375 F or until a 1-inch bread cube turns golden brown in 50 seconds.
Take a small handful of rice sticks, break up and drop into oil.
Press with spatula to submerge completely. Almost instantly, rice sticks will puff up.
Drain on paper towels. Continue until all rice sticks are fried. Remove any noodle scraps from oil.

Whisk egg mixture to lighten, then pour into oil. Egg will puff up. Fry until lightly browned.
Remove and drain on paper towels. Set aside for garnish.
Drain oil from wok, reserving oil; clean wok.

Reheat 1-1/2 tablespoons oil in wok over medium heat.
Add shallots and garlic; cook over medium heat until limp and lightly browned, 1- 1/2 to 2 minutes.
Add shrimp; cook 2 to 3 minutes or until pink.
Stir in 1 teaspoon fish sauce and pepper. Remove shrimp mixture from wok to a plate.
Add sugar mixture to wok; boil until reduced to a thick, syrupy glaze, about 5 minutes.
Mixture must be almost dry, or it will wilt noodles.
Stir shrimp mixture into glaze. Turn off heat.

Add rice sticks to wok, stir until coated with glaze, breaking up noodles slightly while stirring.
Arrange on a large platter; press into a mound. Arrange bean sprouts around edge.
Sprinkle noodles with reserved carrots, then with cilantro sprigs.
Arrange fried egg in center of noodles, or tear into pieces and arrange with bean sprouts.
Serve at once.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Dale's modifications to the above recipe:
RE: carrots: I used raw carrots didn't bother with boiling.
RE:: egg: use the whole thing.
RE: shrimp: you can substitute pork or chicken or any combo.
RE: final step: putting together the veggies: I ignored the mound and added the sprouts, carrots, cilantro, eggs, etc. like a tossed salad.  This is the only recipe I've tried. And it's good.