Prawn cracker

Prawn crackers are deep fried crackers made from starch and prawn that serve as flavouring.

They are a popular snack in parts of Southeast and East Asia. Prawn crackers or shrimp puffs are a common snack food throughout South East Asia, but most closely associated with Indonesia and Malaysia. These are called krupuk udang in Indonesian, prawn crackers in British English and Australian English, and shrimp chips or shrimp crackers in American English. In Europe they are known as kroepoek (old Indonesian spelling for krupuk, based on Dutch spelling rules) in Dutch, Krabbenchips (crab chips) in German, chips de crevettes in French and nuvole di drago (dragon clouds) in Italian.

Indonesia
Prawn cracker is called krupuk udang in Indonesian, and is only one variant of krupuk recognised in Indonesian cuisine. In Indonesia the term krupuk or kerupuk is used as umbrella term to refer to this kind of cracker. Indonesia has perhaps the largest variety of krupuk.

Krupuk udang (prawn cracker) and other types of krupuk are 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. Fishing towns of Sidoarjo in East Java, also Cirebon in West Java, are major producers of krupuk udang.

Malaysia
Prawn crackers are also one of the popular snack in Malaysia and are particularly served at homes of many during festive celebration (such as the Chinese New Year and Hari Raya) being a crowd-pleasing snack, this type of cracker can be found in many groceries stores and supermarkets, examples of popular household brands in Malaysia are Rota Prawn Crackers by OFI Sdn. Bhd. and myReal Pulau Pangkor Prawn Crackers by Lumut Crackers Sdn. Bhd.. One of the most popular type of prawn cracker in Malaysia are the Keropok Udang Geragau Melaka.

Vietnam
Sa Dec in southern Vietnam is the home of bánh phồng tôm. The traditional snack is made of ground shrimp, sometimes mixed with cuttlefish, arrowroot flour, tapioca flour, onion, garlic, sugar, fish sauce, cracked black pepper and salt. Traditionally the dough is steamed, rolled out, cut into round chips then dried. Another method is to form rolls, steam and then slice into thin rounds before being dried. Modern production favours the oval shapes such that the chips form a "scooper" as an accompaniment to salads (gỏi and nộm). The brand Sa Giang is well known.

A variant is bánh phồng nấm flavoured with nấm hương (shiitake) or nấm rơm (straw mushroom).



China
In Chinese cuisine, prawn crackers may use food colouring (including shades of white, pale pink, green and blue), and tend to be lighter and non-spicy. Prawn crackers are considered a snack food, but may accompany takeaway Chinese food in Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Shrimp chips are usually served with roasted chicken dishes in Chinese restaurants overseas.

The Netherlands
Through their historical colonial ties with Indonesia, the Dutch are familiar with Indonesian foodstuffs including the Indonesian prawn crackers. Assorted types of krupuk (Dutch: kroepoek), deep fried crackers made from starch and flavourings, such as prawn or crab, are available in many Indische, or Indo, (Dutch-Indonesian) shops in the Netherlands, which locally are called toko. Prawn crackers are also available in many of the major supermarkets. Kroepoek is a standard part of the repertoire of "Indische" (a word referring to the former Dutch East Indies, present day Indonesia; not to be confused with the Dutch word Indiaas, meaning "from India") restaurants in the Netherlands. It is also served in Chinese restaurants in the Flemish part of Belgium and in the Netherlands.

Australia
They are also known as prawn crackers in Australia. It is popular in many buffet restaurants such as Sizzler, as well as Asian restaurants. They are usually coloured pink with a salty flavour. They are usually treated as a side dish, entrée or snack.

Preparation
Prawn crackers 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 crackers are usually 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, 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 are therefore 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. In the Netherlands, Belgium, Suriname, France, Australia and the United Kingdom they are also widely available in general supermarkets.

Prawn crackers of premium quality are aromatic even without additives such as monosodium glutamate (MSG) and artificial prawn flavourings to enhance the smell and taste. Prawn crackers with such additives leave an aftermath thirst and for some allergic to artificial flavourings, itch sensation on the tongue. The fried prawn crackers may be stored in airtight container for up to 3 months without preservatives and up to 9 months or so depending on the amount of preservatives added.

Most varieties of prawn crackers can also be prepared in a microwave oven, 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 crackers do not become as oily. However, this may cause the cracker to retain a stronger aroma of raw shrimp and the cracker has to be consumed within hours before it softens and loses its crisp.