Prawn crackers

[jackal10]

In the Prawns thread I offered to demonstrate making Prawn Crackers (US Shrimp chips?) at home.

The recipe is

Home made prawn crackers

These are amazing, and a good demonstration of the properties of starch. Unlike commercial shrimp (US) crackers you can put a decent amount of prawn in them. You can make nice variations, for example by including shredded Nori. Its a lot of work, but the chips keep for a long time. and make a novel nibble. Some chefs use them as a solid foam basis for additional flavourings...

1 lb shelled and minced prawns (or any fish etc)

1lb Tapioca flour (often available in Asian grocers)

1 oz salt

1 tsp ground white pepper

1 cup water.

Bring salt, water, pepper to the boil. Pour the boiling water onto the tapioca flour and stir quickly. Add the minced prawns and knead as you would dough. If its too stiff add more boiling water, but it should be on the stiff side.

Roll into a cylinder about an inch in diameter. Wrap in cheesecloth, if you have it, or put a cloth under and over the cylinders. Space them at last an inch apart to stop them sticking together. Steam in a bamboo steamer, or on a cake rack over a pan of plenty of boiling water at high for 45 minutes.

After steaming, unwrap and cool the dough on a rack. Re-wrap and keep in a cool place or the fridge to dry - maybe 3 days, untl you can cut very thin slices with a sharp knife. Don't hurry the drying process before you cut the chips. Lay the slices on a piece of cardboard and dry in the sun or a low oven until brittle. You can store for a long ime in a n airtight container.

To use deep fry in hot oil at 360F. They will puff in seconds.

Ingredients. This is quarter recipe quantity, and whizzed together with the water, salt, pepper to make a stiffish dough

Roll into cylinders anout an inch across, I put some crumbled toasted Nori in half

Put intoi a steamer

Steam for 45 mins

These are very sticky until they dry!

Cover with a cloth and leave in the fridge to dry for 3 days or so.

End of part one - part two when they are dry

[fifi]

This looks like a lot of fun. I can't wait until part 2. One question, are the prawns cooked before mincing? Your package of prawns look like our gulf shrimp after steaming or boiling.

[jackal10]

Yes, they were cooked peeled organic prawns

Part two at the weekend when they have dried

[jackal10]

Three days later the logs have lost their stickyness. Sliced and laid out to dry

Colour is not good. The prawn only ones really are prawn pink, although they will lose most of their colour when eventually cooked.

Edited March 12, 2005 by jackal10 (log)

[touaregsand]

The things that egulleters make from scratch!

Amazing. I'll have to try this.

[sheetz]

Wow, I don't know of anyone who makes these at home. I think they'd make a terrific gift item. Any other suggestions for flavor variations?

[Apicio]

Thanks to Jackal10 for the recipe. The Indonesians call them cropeck and serve them as soon as you are assigned your table in a restaurant while the Chinese use them as bed for crisp skin fried chicken. You can get them in Asian markets but you are absolutely correct, they are much better when made at home and your nori variation is eye-catching. I’ll use a little bit of black sesame on half of the recipe when I try it.

[Pan]

Thanks to Jackal10 for the recipe.  The Indonesians call them cropeck[...]

←

Krupuk (keropok in Malay).

[origamicrane]

this is good stuff :)

jackal have you made the thai prawn crackers? that are spicy?

[origamicrane]

*raise his hand like he was still at school*

hi jackal

can i ask a few questions please

1. how long do you need to knead the dough?

2. why use cooked prawns? why not raw ?

3. after the dough is made

couldn't you cut it into pieces and use a rolling pin to make small flat disks?

then you could steam the disks it would probably take less time

and dry them off in a slow oven? ( yes i am the impatient kind )

[jackal10]

After drying overnight in the warming oven. These will keep a long time in a jar

To cook, either drop into hot oil, or microwave (2 mins). You can also grill - they need to get above 175C/350F to puff and gelatanise.

The chips expand several times - uncooked on the left. Very moreish - some disappeared before they were photographed!

Thanks for the feedback.

I think they are basically the same as Cropeck/Krupuk/Keropok, except I have the impression that the Malay versions are larger, more plate size. Indian papads and papadums are similar, but with different starch.

The industrial version of this process is used widely for snack foods - think of all those foamy fried snacks, as well as formed snacks like Pringles. The texture can be controlled by choice of starch mixture.

I guess you can use any flavours you like. The starch matrix is just a carrier. The flavour needs to be fairly strong, as the starch expansion dilutes it a lot in the mouth. The raw dough is almost inedibly salty and spicy.

I would think any flavour that works with flavoured potato crisps/chips wold work: black pepper, curry, Thai, herbs, worcester sauce etc. Also include things that can stand the processing, like the Nori. Sesame sounds good. You can use different fish (smoked fish is good), and although I've not tried I guess bacon might work.

Other experiments would be with different starches, preferably high amylose, not waxy. Potato starch, or 50/50 semolina and rice flour might work, but give somewhat different structures.

origamicrane questions:

1. how long do you need to knead the dough?

Not long. Its just mixing, not developing the gluten. I just whizzed until a well developed even stiffish ball formed. You may need to adjust the water or add more starch, as different starches (or even batches) adsorb more or less water.

2. why use cooked prawns? why not raw ?

I had cooked prawns to hand. I guess it would work with raw prawns, but they will exude water during cooking, which might not be a good thing. They are just flavouring, not structural.

3. after the dough is made couldn't you cut it into pieces and use a rolling pin to make small flat disks? then you could steam the disks it would probably take less time and dry them off in a slow oven?

I guess you could, but I'm not sure you could get them as thin as the method shown here, especially as they expand during steaming. Steaming the disks without them sticking together or to whatever you were steaming them on would also be difficult.

Edited March 13, 2005 by jackal10 (log)

[Tepee]

Since I'm now at my mother's home (she used to sell these), I asked her how she made it. And, lo! The recipe is exactly the same as the one posted above.

The only differences are she used raw prawns and kneaded the dough very thoroughly, after which she formed into long rolls and steamed them for around an hour. Cool and put into the fridge. When it's hard, it's easier to slice thinly. The slices are arranged on a very big plate, and are sunned until very dry. They didn't have an electric oven back then.

I'm still trying to get over the fact that American prawn crackers are basically the same as ours.

[danlepard]

a big Wow, utterly facinating. They look just like those little japanese snack puffs (with nori or chilli). Must try your recipe.

Dan

[magnolia]

This is amazing - I will never make them myself but I'd love to try yours :-)

My two cents/pence though - in all of my years of ordering in cheap Chinese (average of 3x a week, on and off for a total of about 25 years - or eating out - basically I grew up on the stuff) which admittedly ended eight+ years ago when I moved to London - I never saw these anywhere in the US.

Maybe I just didn't order from the right places - but the US item that fulfilled the same "role" as a nibble-while-you're-waiting-for-your-order...were little brown, slim crackers that were about the same colour and consistency as fortune cookies (but were savoury); come to think of it, I don't think they have a name. Anyway you dip them in "duck sauce" - an orangey-brown sweet sauce (not the same as UK's version of sauce that's actually served with crispy duck, which is Hoisin sauce I believe?) which I've also never seen outside the US.

[sheetz]

My two cents/pence though - in all of my years of ordering in cheap Chinese (average of 3x a week, on and off for a total of about 25 years - or eating out - basically I grew up on the stuff) which admittedly ended eight+ years ago when I moved to London - I never saw these anywhere in the US.

They are typically served alongside the Cantonese deep fried crispy skinned chicken, a common banquet dish. You wouldn't ever get these with takeout.

[jackal10]

Common as a snack food in the UK. Think of them as a vegetarian (or prawn) porky scratchings.

Often come dyed garish colours. You can buy them either pre cooked or as chips in any supermarket or asian shop.

For example

http://www.sharwoods.com/range/product_det...roductTypeId=16

Note only 3% prawn in this commercial version, vs 50% in mine!

As I said, they are representative of many similar foamed snack foods and papads - air is cheaper than ingredients.

[melonpan]

thank you for posting this, jackal. very informative and nicely put together...

i was eagerly waiting for the frying part and was not disappointed.

great photos. thank you!

[petite tête de chou]

Very interesting. Thank you.

[Adam Balic]

Common as a snack food in the UK. Think of them as a vegetarian (or prawn) porky scratchings.

Often come dyed garish colours.  You can buy them either pre cooked or as chips in any supermarket or asian shop.

For example

http://www.sharwoods.com/range/product_det...roductTypeId=16

Note only 3% prawn in this commercial version, vs 50% in mine!

As I said, they are representative of many similar foamed snack foods and papads - air is cheaper than ingredients.

←

V.cool. I haven't tried this, but now I am keen. Do you think that it would be possible to use the shells of shrimp? The have a lot of flavour (you can buy the the shells of tiny shrimp in most Asian grocers here) and I wonder if you toasted these and reduced them to a powder you could incorporate these and get even more flavour in. Or used a proportion of dried shrimp even?

I have most commonly seen these in SE-Asian recipes/restuarants, the ones common as chinese take-away freebies in the UK are pretty crap, but you can buy quite good ones produced in Indonesia (20-30% shrimp).

[Anna N]

This one's for you, Jack!

I could not have screwed up your simple recipe more if I had set out to do so. I was rushed, distracted and should have been banned from any kitchen. Nevertheless, I was determined to try this recipe.

First, I purchased tapioca flour at the bulk food store, BUT I also bought rice flour. At home, I find I have two bags of white stuff with only a number on a small tag to identify what was what. Now, was the tapioca flour #339 or #226? Fortunately, I am somewhat familiar with the feel of rice flour and determined that the one that felt more like cornstarch was tapioca flour. Then, I misread the recipe and mixed the shrimp, salt, pepper together and then poured in COLD water. Instant cement. That's when I stopped, re-read the recipe and said some unladylike words. But I persisted. I managed to form and steam the rolls and left them to dry. I sliced them as thinly as I could, put them in the oven at 150F for an hour or so and then deep fried them. As you can see, despite all my errors, I have shrimp chips! They are a bit uneven in size due to poor slicing skills but still look and taste like shrimp crackers.

If I can do it, anybody can.

[jackal10]

Wow! bet they taste as good as they look!

Be warned, they don't last. They are so light and moreish they somehow evaporate from the plate if left accessible...

I think there is a whole unexplored world here, with similar foods like the South Indian Vadams and appalams, different flavourings and starches..

Edited March 22, 2005 by jackal10 (log)

[Carlovski]

Strange thing about the uk commercial type which as has been mentioned are available in lots of brands and found with the crisps in the supermarket (And more importantly 24 hour shops and petrol stations!) and at every chinese takeaway - usually 'Free with every order over £10' is that although completely lacking an any redeeming culinary value (As Jack says, very little prawn in those versions) they are as addictive as crack.

A friend of mine while a student discovered the remarkable taste sensation of putting a forkfull of sweet and sour pot noodle in a suitable curved and bowl shaped prawn cracker and eating the whole thing before it collapsed.

Oh, alright I admit it, the friend was me.

[origamicrane]

Strange thing about the uk commercial type which as has been mentioned are available in lots of brands and found with the crisps in the supermarket (And more importantly 24 hour shops and petrol stations!)  and at every chinese takeaway - usually 'Free with every order over £10' is that although completely lacking an any redeeming culinary value (As Jack says, very little prawn in those versions) they are as addictive as crack.

A friend of mine while a student discovered the remarkable taste sensation of putting a forkfull of sweet and sour pot noodle in a suitable curved and bowl shaped prawn cracker and eating the whole thing before it collapsed.

Oh, alright I admit it, the friend was me. 

←

try drinking cola out of them

trust me its fun

[origamicrane]

ok just started to make these.

Only making a quarter size recipe

so as a metric baby thats

100g tapioca flour

100g minced cooked prawns

1/4 tsp of white pepper

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup boiling water

1 clove of garlic

1. mince prawns and a clove of garlic.

2. salt, pepper and boiling water into a bowl

3. water mix into flour and stir. ( at this point the flour turns int o a big clump )

4. work the flour with fingers until its resembling breadcrumb

5. Then pour the tapioca breadcrumbs into the mixer with the prawns and blitz.

6. take out and knead a bit and roll into a cylinder

7. cover in a cheesecloth and steam for 45 minutes.

so far so good will dry them out and see if they fry up in a few days time.

Thanks again for this thread jackal.

Got a question though the dough i had felt very soft is this right as i heard you say it should be stiff? how stiff?

[jackal10]

It probably doesn't matter that much. I added tapioca flour until it was as stiff as possible but I could but still form it. I figured it would shorten the drying time. I guess if its really wet you may get some internal cavities.

Edited March 29, 2005 by jackal10 (log)