Homemade Fish Ball Crackers

Ingredients:
140g Mackerel/Milkfish meat
255g (+/-)Tapioca flour
1 egg (whole)

1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp chicken powder
10g sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp MSG (optional)
5 cloves garlic ~ paste

Directions:

1. In a food processor, add the fish meat & blend it into a smooth paste.  Set aside
2. In another bowl, use the hand electric to beat the egg, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda till double in volume. Then add the salt, MSG, garlic paste & season powder.  Mix to combine together.
3. Pour the fish paste mixture into the egg mixture.  Mix to combine together.  Then add the tapioca flour, bit by bit.  Knead till smooth dough.
4. Divide the dough into a golf ball & roll into a long thin strip.  Then cut the strip about 1/2" in length.  Soak in oil to prevent it from stick together.
5. In a wok, add the cut strips into the oil (at this point, do not on the fire) make sure the oil covers the dough strips.
6. Then on the heat to medium-low fire & keep stirring till the dough strips turn into crackers.  This takes about 15-30 mins on medium-low fire and has to be patiently continuously stirred. Dish out the crackers & drain on kitchen paper.  Store in air-tight.

Note:

Can use any type of fish, I use a frozen white fish fillet as NTUC is out of stock.

Keropok Lekor & Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

500g Selayang/Mackerel Fish ~ meat only

75g Tapioca flour (plus for dusting)

2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp seasoning or Maggi cukup rasa

1-1/2 tsp salt

Dipping Sauce

10-15 dried chili

1 block Palm sugar (gula Melaka)

2 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

Directions/Instructions:

1. Clean the fish thoroughly, remove its intestines and chop off its head and tail. leaving the body intact.  Make slits along both sides of the fish, then scrape off the meat; discard the bones.
2. In the food processor, add the fish meat and all the ingredients.  Blend the mixture until it becomes a soft dough.
3. Dip your hand in the tapioca flour and roll the dough into a cylindrical shape.  Boil a potful of water.  Drop the lekor into the boiling water, wait for it to float, and remove with a slotted spoon.  Set aside to cool.
4. Cut the pieces diagonally into thin slices, then deep-fry in hot oil and serve with the dipping sauce
5. Sauce: Boil the dried chili till the water boiling point.  Blend the boiled chili with water.  Then strain the blended chili.  (Note:  Just the blended chili water only).  Pour the chili water in the wok and add the palm sugar, salt and let it cook till the sauce thicken itself on medium-low heat.  Keep stirring to prevent burning.

Rice Paper Crackers

Ingredients:

1 packet of Rice Paper ~ cut into bite-size

Oil for frying

Dipping 

Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce

Chocolate Sauce

Directions/Instructions:

1. Heat oil in a saucepan at 160 deg C.  Fry the cut bite-size rice paper for a sec.  Drain on kitchen paper towel.
2. Serve immediately with the dipping sauce of your choice.

Homemade Prawn Crackers

Ingredients:
600g small/medium prawn ~ shelled & deveined
600g tapioca flour (I used 500g tapioca/100g cornstarch)
1 large egg
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp ground white pepper
1/4 tsp msg (Optional)

Directions:

1. In a food processor, add all the ingredients except flour & grind the mixture to a fine paste thoroughly.
2. Sift in tapioca flour & knead well.  If the mixture doesn't come together, add 1/2 tbsp of water.  If too soft, add a little bit more tapioca flour.  (Taste the raw dough.  If it's bland, add more seasoning)
3. Form into 3 rolls & place in a steamer.   Cover rolls with a dry cloth/kitchen towel to prevent water from dripping onto the rolls.  Steam for 1 hour and a half.  
4. When rolls are cooked, cool & wrap with plastic cling & refrigerate overnight. 
5. Preheat oven to 50 deg C on fan mode or convention level.   Then cut rolls into thin slices, arrange on the baking tray & put in the oven, leave the oven door ajar, till the slices are thoroughly dry & curls.
6. Once thoroughly dried, store prawn crackers in an air-tight container & ready for deep frying.

Note:  Recipe called to dry in the sun.  Unfortunately, living in condo flats I have to use an oven to heat my prawn crackers to be dried.

Keep in air-tight container

"Tempe" Crackers aka Tempe Kerepek

I'm so craving some to munch and I have this recipe given by my Indonesian friend a year ago and now I decided to have a homemade "tempe" crackers.  When giant supermarket yesterday to look for tempe & found but not the one that am looking for.  However, this will do as it's a trial version.  So, this morning I began my experiment & it's worth my effort as it's turn out to be like the stall selling.  The next time around, I'll go to Geylang to look for square "tempe" & sliced them very thin since I have a meat slicer.....

Ingredients:
200g Tempe ~ thinly sliced

100g Rice flour

1 tbsp Tapioca flour or cornstarch

1 large egg

200ml water

Oil for deep fry

Blended:

½ tsp coriander seed

3 cloves garlic

2 candlenuts (buah keras)

¼ tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp salt

2 lime leaves

Directions:

1. Make the batter: Mix the blended ingredient with all the flours, egg & water to smooth batter.
2. Dip the “tempe” into the smooth batter & set aside for about 3 mins.
3. Heat oil in a medium, deep fry till golden brown & crispy in batches.
4. Cool the batches before storing them in an air-tight container.

Seaweed Crackers

Today I went to Giant for my groceries,  I'm so craving for crackers then I saw this Nori on sale & I decided to buy & thought I would eat it while watching TV tonight.  Unfortunately, that didn't happen cuz I remember I had a recipe for Nori.   This recipe was given by my Japanese neigbour.  It's so sample & would like to share this recipe to my friends but I've to warn you that this is very addictive as you'll keep munching will frying them....so, enjoy & have a great day!

Ingredients:
1 packet of Nori Seaweed

1 packet of spring rolls

Some sesame oil

A tiny sprinkle of salt & pepper ~ per piece of seaweed

1 egg white

Directions:

1. Spring roll skins peel them apart nicely.  Don’t separate them all at once as they tend to dry out.
2. With a brush, spread egg whites on one piece of spring roll skin.   Lay seaweed on top.   Rub some sesame oil, salt & pepper on seaweed.   Brush another piece of spring roll skin with egg white & lay it on top of the seaweed, preferably covering the entire piece of seaweed.   Repeat for all ingredients.
3. Cut into any shape or roll like a Swiss roll.   Heat up oil & deep fry till golden brown &crispy in batches.    Separate the pieces which stick to one another.    Cool till the batches feel lukewarm before storing in an air-tight container.

Spring Roll Crackers

After making the "Seaweed Crackers," I had a couple of spring rolls left, so I decided to make something instead of freezing them. Did you know we can make many dishes with spring rolls, such as mini popiah, vegetable spring rolls, and steamed spring rolls?
I was introduced these crackers by my aunt in Malacca.   She gaves me a bottle of these crackers.   I started nibbling on these while watching TV at home and in no time, they were gone!   They were so addictive that I called my aunt in Malacca to share with me this recipe.  Surprisingly it was really easy!  This is what you will need to make this delicious little snack.

Ingredients:
1 packet of spring rolls (square or rectangle)

1 egg white or 1 tsp cornflour ~ for sealing

Oil for frying

Sugar for coating

Directions:

1. Roll a spring roll like Swiss style with the help of a chopstick.
2. Seal the edge with some egg white or cornflour.
3. Cut up into desired size & deep fry till golden brown (Note: Best result, let it dry for couple of hours then fried them to get the crispiness)
4. Drained on the absorbent paper towel to absorb any excess oil.
5. Toss them into a bowl of sugar so that they are all coated with sugar.   Store them in an air-tight container when cooled.

Fried Mini Popiah With Dried Shrimp aka Popiah Udang Kering

Ingredients:
1 packet (250g) of grated coconut
¾ cup dried shrimp ~ soaked & blended
3-4 tbsp oil
Salt
Sugar

Paste:
3 stalk lemongrass
5 shallots
3 cloves garlic
3 tbsp chili boh / paste (depends how spicy you want)
½ tsp turmeric powder

Directions:

1. Toast the grated coconut in a wok until they turn golden brown in color & set aside.
2. Heat oil & saute the paste ingredients till fragrant.   Add sugar & salt, continue stirring the mixture well for about 3 minutes or until the mixture is thicken.
3. Add the dried shrimp & grated coconut into the mixture.  Mix all the ingredients well.
4. Transfer to a bowl, put aside & let it cool down.
5. Now peel off the first layer of the spring roll wrapper from the stack & cut into a 9 square & spread onto a clean surface.  Place the cooked filling in a diagonal fashion.
6. Pull one side of the flap over to close the filling.  Fold the two ends & proceed to roll the wrapper, pulling over the flaps to close the roll.
7. Heat oil for deep fry the mini popiah.  Let it cool & store them in airtight container.