Krupuk (Prawn Cracker)

They are a popular snack in parts of Southeast Asia and East. The crackers originate from Indonesia where they are known as krupuk or kerupuk; keropok in Malaysia; kropek in the Philippines. They are also known as kroepoek in the Netherlands, due to its colonial link with Indonesia, and in Suriname, another former Dutch colony. Such crackers are known as xiapian (虾片 "prawn chips") in Chinese and bánh phồng tôm in Vietnam.

Indonesia has perhaps the largest variety of krupuk. In Indonesia, the term krupuk refers to the type of relatively large crackers, while the term kripik or keripik refers to smaller bite-size crackers; the counterpart of chips (or crisps) in western cuisine. For example potato chips are called kripik kentang in Indonesia. Usually krupuk is made from the dried paste from the mixture of starch with other ingredients, while kripik is usually made entirely from thinly sliced, sun-dried, and fried products without any mixture of starch.

Another flour-based cracker with brittle of peanuts, anchovies or shrimp is called rempeyek. The leftover rice can be made crackers through sun-dried and deep fried to make rengginang or intip (Javanese) rice cracker. Krupuk and kripik can be consumed solely as a snack, or cracked and sprinkled on top of certain food as a complement to add crispy texture. Certain Indonesian dishes such as gado-gado, karedok, rujak, asinan, bubur ayam and certain kinds of soto were known to require certain type of krupuk for toppings.

Sidoarjo in East Java, also Cirebon and Garut in West Java, are major producers of krupuk, and many recipes originate from there. A common variation, called emping is made from melinjo (Gnetum gnemon) nuts. Fish cracker krupuk kemplang and krupuk ikan is particularly popular in Southern Sumatran city of Palembang and also on the island of Bangka. Another popular type is krupuk jangek or krupuk kulit, cracker made from dried cattle skin, particularly popular in Minangkabau area West Sumatra. Krupuk mie (noodle cracker) is yellowish krupuk made from noodle-like paste usually used for asinan topping, particularly popular in Jakarta and most of markets in Java.