Prawn cracker - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Krupuk or kerupuk in Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

; keropok in Malaysia; kropek in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

; bánh phồng tôm in Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

; kroepoek in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

is a popular snack in parts of East

East Asia

East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...

and Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

as well as former colonizer the Netherlands

Netherlands

and another of its former colonies, Suriname

Suriname

Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...

. Krupuk are deep fried

Deep frying

Deep frying is a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot oil or fat. This is normally performed with a deep fryer or chip pan; industrially, a pressure fryer or vacuum fryer may be used....

cracker

Cracker (food)

A cracker is a baked good commonly made from grain flour dough and typically made in quantity in various hand-sized or smaller shapes. Flavorings or seasonings, such as salt, herbs, seeds, and/or cheese, may be added to the dough or sprinkled on top before baking...

s made from starch

Starch

Starch or amylum is a carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by all green plants as an energy store...

and other ingredients that usually give the taste. Prawn based krupuk are popular types of krupuk. These are called krupuk udang in Indonesian, prawn crackers in British

British English

British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...

and also in Australian English

Australian English

Australian English is the name given to the group of dialects spoken in Australia that form a major variety of the English language....

, shrimp chips or shrimp crackers in American English

American English

American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....

, Krabbenkekse (Crab cookies) in German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, Nuvole di Drago (Dragon's Clouds) in Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

, 炸庀虾片
(fried prawn crisps) in Chinese.

Indonesia

Indonesia has perhaps the largest variety of krupuk. In Indonesia the term krupuk refers to the type of relatively large crackers, while the term kripik or keripik is refer to smaller bite-size crackers; the counterpart of chips (or crisps) in western cuisine. For example potato chips is called kripik kentang in Indonesia. Usually krupuk is made from the dried paste from the mixture of starch with other ingredients, while kripik is usually made entirely from thinly sliced, sun-dried, and fried products without any mixture of starch. Another flour-based cracker with brittle of peanuts, anchovies or shrimps is called rempeyek
Rempeyek
Rempeyek or peyek is a deep-fried savoury Indonesian peanut cracker made from flour , peanuts, dried anchovies or shrimp, coconut milk, salt and spices. Some people also add a chopped citrus leaf to add the "fresh" taste to it....

. The leftover rice can be made crackers through sun-dried and deep fried to make rengginang or intip (Javanese

Javanese language

Javanese language is the language of the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia. In addition, there are also some pockets of Javanese speakers in the northern coast of western Java...

) rice cracker. Krupuk and kripik can be consummed solely as snack

Snack

A snack is a small portion of food eaten between meals. The food might be snack food—items like potato chips or baby carrots—but could also simply be a smaller amount of any food item.-Snacks and health:...

, or cracked and sprinkled on top of certain food as complement to add crispy texture. Certain Indonesian dishes such as gado-gado

Gado-gado

Gado-gado , also called Lotek for its cooked version - differed from lotek atah or karedok for its fresh and raw version of the vegetable covered with peanut sauce and pecel is an Indonesian dish comprising a vegetable salad served with a peanut sauce dressing...

, karedok

Karedok

Karedok is a raw vegetable salad in peanut sauce from West Java, Indonesia. It is one of the Sundanese signature dish. It is made from cucumbers, bean sprouts, cabbage, legumes, Thai basil, and small green eggplant, covered in peanut sauce dressing...

, rujak, asinan

Asinan

Asinan is a pickled vegetables or fruits dish, commonly found in Indonesia. The term asin is Indonesian word for "salty", which explain the process of preserving the ingredients through soaking it in the solution of salt water. Asinan is quite similar to rujak, the difference is rujak usually...

, bubur ayam and certain kinds of soto

Soto (food)

Soto, sroto, tauto or coto is a common dish, found in many regional variations of Indonesian cuisine. It is a traditional soup mainly composed of broth, meat and vegetables. There is no clear definition of what makes a soto, but normally many traditional soups are called soto, whereas foreign and...

were known to require certain type of krupuk for toppings.

Krupuk

There are numbers of variations on krupuk, many of which are made from the mixture of starch with seafood (shrimp, fish, or squid), but occasionally with rice, fruits, nuts or vegetables; these variations are more usual in southeast Asia. Krupuk udang (shrimp cracker), krupuk bawang (onion cracker), krupuk kampung (cassava

Cassava

Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...

starch cracker) and krupuk gendar (ground rice

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

cracker) is ubiquitous in Indonesia. The examples of popular krupuk udang brands in Indonesia is Finna and Komodo brand. To achieve maximum crunchiness, most of this pre-packed raw krupuk udang must be sun-dried first before being deep fried at home. To cook krupuk, a wok and plenty of very hot cooking oil is needed. Raw krupuk is quite small, hard, and darker in color than cooked one.

Sidoarjo

Sidoarjo

Sidoarjo is a regency of East Java, Indonesia.Sidoarjo is bordered by Surabaya city and Gresik regency to the north, by Pasuruan regency to the south, by Mojokerto regency to the west and by the Madura Strait to the east. It has an area of 634.89 km², making it the smallest regency in East Java. ...

in East Java

East Java

East Java is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the eastern part of the island of Java and includes neighboring Madura and islands to its east and to its north East Java is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the eastern part of the island of Java and includes neighboring Madura and...

, also Cirebon

Cirebon

Cirebon is a port city on the north coast of the Indonesian island of Java. It is located in the province of West Java near the provincial border with Central Java, approximately 297 km east of Jakarta, at .The seat of a former Sultanate, the city's West and Central Java border location have...

and Garut

Garut

Garut is a town in the West Java province of Indonesia and is the capital of the Garut Regency. It is located about 75 km to the southeast of the major city of Bandung.-History:...

in West Java

West Java

West Java , with a population of over 43 million, is the most populous and most densely populated province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, it is slightly smaller in area than densely populated Taiwan, but with nearly double the population...

are major producers of krupuk, and many recipes originate from there. A common variation, called emping is made from melinjo (Gnetum gnemon
Gnetum gnemon
Gnetum gnemon is a species of Gnetum native to southeast Asia and the western Pacific Ocean islands, from Assam south and east through Indonesia and Malaysia to the Philippines and Fiji...

) nuts. Melinjo crackers were part of the dinner menu on Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

's state visit to Indonesia in 2010, where he praised the crackers, alongside bakso

Bakso

Bakso or baso is Indonesian meatball or meat paste made from beef surimi and is similar in texture to the Chinese beef ball, fish ball, or pork ball. Bakso is commonly made from beef with a small quantity of tapioca flour, however bakso can also be made from other ingredients, such as chicken,...

(meatball soup) and nasi Goreng

Nasi goreng

Nasi goreng, literally meaning "fried rice" in Indonesian, can refer simply to fried pre-cooked rice, a meal including stir fried rice in small amount of cooking oil or margarine, typically spiced with kecap manis , shallot, garlic, tamarind and chilli and accompanied with other ingredients,...

(fried rice), as delicious.

Fish cracker krupuk kemplang and krupuk ikan is particularly popular in Southern Sumatran city of Palembang

Palembang

Palembang is the capital city of the South Sumatra province in Indonesia. Palembang is one of the oldest cities in Indonesia, and has a history of being a capital of a maritime empire. Located on the Musi River banks on the east coast of southern Sumatra island, it has an area of 400.61 square...

and also on the island of Bangka

Bangka

Bangka can refer to:* Bangka Island, an island of Indonesia* Bangka Regency, Indonesia* Bangka Strait, a strait of Indonesia* Bangka language, spoken in Indonesia* Tagalog: bangka, an outrigger canoe* Wanhua District, Taipei City...

. Another popular type is krupuk jangek or krupuk kulit, cracker made from dried cattle skin, particularly popular in Minangkabau area West Sumatra

West Sumatra

West Sumatra is a province of Indonesia. It lies on the west coast of the island Sumatra. It borders the provinces of North Sumatra to the north, Riau and Jambi to the east, and Bengkulu to the southeast. It includes the Mentawai Islands off the coast...

. Krupuk mie (noodle cracker) is yellowish krupuk made from noodle-like paste usually used for asinan

Asinan

topping, particularly popular in Jakarta and most of markets in Java.

Kripik

The smaller size cracker, known with its diminutive name kripik, can be savoury or sweet. It is often made from various dried fruits, tubers, vegetables, and fishes. The most popular are kripik singkong (cassava

Cassava

cracker) and kripik pisang (banana

Banana

Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....

cracker), however another types of fruits or tubers crackers are also available such as; kripik apel (apple cracker) from Malang

Malang

Malang is the second largest city in East Java province, Indonesia. It has an ancient history dating back to the Mataram Kingdom. The city population at the 2010 Census was 819,708. During the period of Dutch colonization, it was a popular destination for European residents. The city is famous for...

in East Java

East Java

, also kripik nangka (jackfruit cracker), kripik salak (snake fruit

Salak

Salak is a species of palm tree native to Indonesia. It is a very short-stemmed palm, with leaves up to long; each leaf has a 2-metre long petiole with spines up to long, and numerous leaflets....

cracker), kripik talas (taro

Taro

Taro is a common name for the corms and tubers of several plants in the family Araceae . Of these, Colocasia esculenta is the most widely cultivated, and is the subject of this article. More specifically, this article describes the 'dasheen' form of taro; another variety is called eddoe.Taro is...

cracker), kripik ubi (sweet potato

Sweet potato

The sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of...

cracker), and kripik sukun (breadfruit

Breadfruit

Breadfruit is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry family, Moraceae, growing throughout Southeast Asia and most Pacific Ocean islands...

cracker). Another type of kripik are often coated with batter and deep fried until crispy and dry, such as kripik belut (eel kripik), and vegetable kripik such as kripik bayam (spinach cracker).

Malaysia

In Malaysia, krupuk are usually made by grinding fish or prawns or squid or vegetables into a paste, mixing with sago

Sago

Sago is a starch extracted in the spongy center or pith, of various tropical palm stems, Metroxylon sagu. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Moluccas, where it is called saksak and sagu. A type of flour, called sago flour, is made from sago. The largest supply...

and then deep-frying it. It comes in three main forms: keropok lekor which is long and chewy, keropok losong (steamed) and keropok keping which is thin and crispy. It is frequently served with dipping sauces.

Prawn based krupuk are the most widely available in the west, and are white or light brown in colour. Despite the high amount of shrimps used, any shrimp taste is usually quite subtle. Perhaps the most common form is the Indonesian krupuk udang, made with dried shrimp

Shrimp

Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...

and hence a light shade of pink. Some consumers have noted that the quality of krupuk has dropped over the years, with manufacturers using sago as a cheap filler for fish krupuk.

China

In Chinese cuisine

Chinese cuisine

Chinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...

, prawn crackers may use food coloring (including shades of white, pale pink, green and blue), and tend to be lighter and non-spicy. Prawn crackers are a traditional complementary side dish

Side dish

A side dish, sometimes referred to as a side order or simply a side, is a food item that accompanies the entrée or main course at a meal.-Common types:...

and may accompany takeaway Chinese food

Chinese Takeaway

"Chinese Takeaway" is a song by The Adicts taken from their second album Sound of Music.-The Adicts:* Keith 'Monkey' Warren - Vocals* Mel Ellis - Bass* Pete Dee Davison - Guitar * Michael 'Kid' Dee Davison - Drums...

in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

,the Netherlands

Netherlands

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

and Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. Shrimp chips are usually served with roasted chicken dishes in Chinese restaurants.

Preparation

Krupuk are made by mixing prawns, tapioca flour and water. The mixture is rolled out, steamed, sliced and sun-dried. In the traditional way, to achieve maximum crispiness, raw krupuk usually are sun-dried first before frying, to eliminate the moisture. Once dry, they are deep-fried in oil (which must be at high heat before cooking). In only a few seconds they expand from thumb-sized semi-transparent chips to white fluffy crackers, much like popcorn

Popcorn

Popcorn, or popping corn, is corn which expands from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Corn is able to pop because, like sorghum, quinoa and millet, its kernels have a hard moisture-sealed hull and a dense starchy interior. This allows pressure to build inside the kernel until an explosive...

, as water bound to the starch expands as it turns into steam. If left in the open air for more than a few hours (depending on humidity), they start to soften and become chewy and therefore are ideally consumed within a few hours of being fried. Storing the crackers in a low humidity environment or an airtight container will preserve the crispness. Packets of unfried prawn crackers may be purchased in oriental stores, or stores that specialise in Asian cuisine

Asian cuisine

Asian cuisine styles can be broken down into several tiny regional styles that have roots in the peoples and cultures of those regions. The major types can be roughly defined as East Asian with its origins in Imperial China and now encompassing modern Japan and the Korean peninsula; Southeast Asian...

. In the Netherlands

Netherlands

, Belgium

Belgium

, Suriname

Suriname

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Australia

Australia

and the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

they are also widely available in general supermarkets.

Most varieties of krupuk can also be prepared in a microwave oven

Microwave oven

A microwave oven is a kitchen appliance that heats food by dielectric heating, using microwave radiation to heat polarized molecules within the food...

, in which a few discs can be cooked in less than a minute. This will usually cause them to cook and expand in a way similar to when they are deep fried. For small quantities, this method is faster and less messy, as the krupuk do not become as oily. However, this may cause the krupuk to retain a stronger aroma of raw shrimp which may not necessarily be pleasant.

External links

Recipe for making home-made krupuk crackers.

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