Prawn cracker

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Prawn Crackers (American Shrimp Chip, Shrimp Cracker, originally Kerupuk, Keropok or Indonesian and Dutch Kroepoek) is an Indonesian and Malaysian snack consisting of deep fried crackers made of flour (usually Tapioca flour or potato flour) and flavoured with fish, prawns or vegetables. Despite the high amount of shrimps used, any shrimp taste is usually quite subtle - these crackers are usually white or light brown in colour. Prawn crackers are a traditional complimentary side dish accompanying a Chinese takeaway in the United Kingdom.

[edit] Types

There are countless varieties depending on the ingredients, which often used fruits and vegetables not commonly found in the West, eg. belinjo nuts (keropok made from belinjo nuts is called emping). Perhaps the most common form is keropok udang, made with dried shrimp and hence a light shade of pink. In Indonesian restaurants with English menus these are often simply called 'prawn crackers'. There are around 30 different recipes for keropok in Indonesia. A big producer of keropok and the place of origin of many keropok recipes is Garut.

In the Malaysian state of Terengganu, keropok are made by grinding the fish, prawn or vegetable to a paste, mixing with sago and then deep-frying it. It comes in two main forms: keropok lekor which is long and chewy, and keropok keping which is thin and crispy.

Chinese prawn crackers tend to be more colourful (including shades of red, green and blue) but blander.

[edit] Preparation

Prawn Crackers are made by deep-frying them in oil. In only a few seconds they expand from thumb-sized semi-transparent chips to white fluffy crackers, much like popcorn. If left in the open air for more than a few days, they start to soften and become chewy and therefore are ideally consumed within a few days of being fried. Storing the crackers in a refrigerator will preserve the crispness for over a week. Packets of unfried prawn chips may be purchased in oriental stores, or stores that specialise in Asian cuisine.