Is it difficult to make fried prawn crackers at home?

Question

Think my kids will love them and they are more healthy than potato chips. We do not have them in my country can you help with a recipe pls.

I need a recipe for the crackers themselves not buy ready made ones and fry them.

Answer 1

This was a challenge!

Ingredients:

1 lb large prawns (shelled, deveined and minced)
1 cup water
1 lb tapioca flour
1 oz salt (to taste)
2 drops food coloring (optional)
1 tsp white pepper powder

Directions:

1. Bring water, salt, and pepper powder to a boil. Pour boiling water onto the tapioca flour in a large mixing bowl, and stir quickly with a cooking spoon. Add in the minced prawns and knead them as you would to dough. At this point you may wish to divide the dough in batches and knead in food coloring to tint the chips. As the water content of the prawns is unpredictable, you may adjust it by adding more boiling water.

The dough should be on the hard side. Now shape into a cylinder about 1 inch in diameter. If you do not have the proper steamer for this process, a bamboo rack or cake cooling rack will do. Lay a cheesecloth underneath and on top of the dough and place it on the rack. Make sure the cylinders of dough are far enough apart (at least 1 1/2 inch if space permits) to prevent them from sticking together. Steam at a high temperature for 45 minutes. Make sure there is plenty of water in the steamer to avoid having to open it to add more water.

2. After steaming, bring out, remove the cheesecloth, and cool the dough on another rack. Keep in a cool place to dry. The time varies from 1 to 3 days.If you can cut it with a very sharp knife, then start to cut it in thin slices (about the thickness of a penny). Now lay the slices on a piece of cardboard and dry in the sun until brittle. Don't hurry the drying before you cut them.

3. You can store them indefinitely in a can. When you want to use them, calculate 2 or 3 chips per person. Deep fry in oil at 360F temperature. If the process has been done correctly, the chips will be done in a matter of seconds. They will increase their size several times.

Drain on paper towel and serve.

Answer 2

You need to buy the actual fried prawn cracker pieces, and all you do is drop them in the deep fryer.

I do have to caution you that they are NOT more healthy than potato chips because they are deep fried in oil...

For a healthier choice than potato or prawn chips, go for the BAKED potato chips (by Lays), that taste quite good..

These are the tasty prawn flavored chips that puff up when deep-fried. Prawn crackers (also called prawn flavored chips or shrimp chips) make a great snack food for both kids and adults. Their texture and flavor goes very well with beer.
For best results, don't fry too many of the prawn crackers at once, and have a wire basket ready to quickly remove them from the hot oil. I get the best results deep-frying 6 - 7 crackers at a time – more and it’s difficult to quickly remove them from the wok.

INGREDIENTS:
Prawn Flavored Chips, such as Ching Kee, as desired
4 cups oil for deep-frying, or as needed

PREPARATION:
Heat the oil to deep-fry the prawn chips (prawn crackers) to 360 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately 182 degrees Celsius). To find out if the oil is hot enough, either 1) use a deep-fry thermometer to test the temperature, or 2) place a cooking chopstick or a wooden spoon upright in the middle of the wok. If bubbles start forming around the chopstick or wooden spoon immediately, the oil is ready.

Place several chips in the hot oil, separating them if needed. Deep-fry the chips for a few seconds until they puff up (the process takes less than 5 seconds), then remove the chips and drain on paper towels. Lay out a fresh paper towel for each batch of chips before deep-frying.
Prawn crackers taste best served warm. If not serving immediately, store in a sealed container and reheat briefly in a 250 degree Fahrenheit oven (about 120 degrees Celsius) before serving.