We had prawn crackers with curry the other night and I got to thinking how
much I like them and it seems they haven't been mentioned here - so here is
AYEWTKBWATA of prawn (shrimp) crackers.

What are they?
Prawn crackers (Krupuk Udang) are a snack or side dish popular in SE Asian
cuisine, eg Indonesian, Malasian. They are made from tapioca flour and
prawns. They end up very light, tasty and crunchy, a good accompanyment to
spicy food or a replacment for potato chips, nuts etc, such as with beer.

How do I make them?
You don't. You buy them raw from a specialty asian food shop or other
quality supplier. The good ones are about 3-4 in long uncooked, a good
orange/salmon colour and taste of prawns when cooked. The bad ones are
pink, green, blue etc; have no appreciable flavour and are usually smaller,
say 2in long.

How do I cook them?
Fry in hot oil. Use mild oil such as peanut and make sure it is clean. The
key is to get the temperature right. I wish I could specify in degrees but
I can't. The oil should be quite hot but NOT smoking. If the temp is right
they will expand to about double their size in about 10-15 seconds, the
texture will be fragile, crunchy and melt-in-the-mouth, the flavour will be
of prawns, the colour will be very pale salmon pink. If it is too cool they
will not swell up correctly and the texture will be tough. If it is too hot
they will go brown, especially round the edges, and taste burnt. Experiment
on the broken ones in the bottom of the packet and you will soon get it
right.

Drop into oil one at a time and as it expands catch it in tongs and hold it
flat, after most of the swelling stops turn it over briefly. You may need
to press it down under the oil as they tend to twist up. Once no more
swelling/bubbling takes place get it out quickly and drain on absorbent
paper.

How do I server them?
As a snack or side dish serve quite soon after cooking. If kept too long
they will go soggy especially if the humidity is high.

How long do they last?
Raw they keep for months in a sealed packet or jar. Cooked they don't keep
at all unless you have a hemetic sealing system.

I once went to a party where they were served raw. True story. Little
slices of orange plastic. Even the drunks wouldn't eat them. I opened my
big mouth and ended up cooking several packets.

My your prawn crackers give you pleasure.

David