The first time I ate Chinese food was in the 1960s in Scotland. This was in an 'authentic' restaurant above a butcher's shop in a small mining town. I forget what I ate but guess it was as authentic as Japanese haggis.
I do remember, however being served a plate of what were described as 'prawn crackers', the prefered term in the UK to this day.
Every Chinese meal I ate in the UK thereafter and there were many, especially when I was a student in London, came with the obligatory prawn crackers, right up to when I left the UK in the 90s and moved to China.
Since then, I've only ever been served a prawn / shrimp cracker / chip once and it was literally one, resting soggily on top of a plate of fried rice.
Breaking news! Prawn crackers / shrimp chips aren't Chinese! They're from Indonesia where they're called keripik udang.
Only in very recent times, it has become possible to buy these here where they are S: 虾片; T 蝦片 (Mandarin: xiā piàn; Cantonese: haa1 pin3). Strangely, I can only find them on my delivery app, not in supermarkets. Not that I want them.
They are mainly sold precooked in bags just like potato crisps/chips. Most are imported from Indonesia but I've also seen them from Thailand where they are ข้าวเกรียบกุ้ง (khao kriap kung) and Vietnam as bánh phồng tôm.
We can also source manufactured but uncooked discs, again usually imported as above, although there are a couple of Chinese brands. They come in two varieties: plain white and multi-coloured.
These are made from tapioca, MSG and maybe prawns /shrimp if you're lucky. Cheaper versions are made using powdered shells or prawn extract, whatever that may be.
Whatever you call them, they are a high calorie starter and not particularly healthy. What chips are?
Images from Meituan food delivery app listings.
