I must confess we often cook this dish after we have leftover mohinger not because I cooked lots of vermicelli rather we ate only mohinger soup with my split pea fry. So I am left with plain, already cooked vermicelli . . . well, my reluctance to throw out food is how this dish came about.
If you do not want or do not like pungent aromas, replace with mild flavor dried shrimp. Thin vermicelli break away easily when you stir fried so be sure to look for the biggest vermicelli you can find in any Asian supermarket. Sometimes they label the size, but often with the clear plastic it’s just as easy to look through the clear plastic.