Fish cracker facts for kids
Fish crackers
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| Alternative names | Krupuk ikan |
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| Course | Snack |
| Place of origin | Indonesia |
| Region or state | Southeast Asia |
| Serving temperature | Room temperature |
| Main ingredients | Fish, tapioca starch, spices and other ingredients |
| Variations | Different variations according to ingredients |
Fish crackers are deep fried crackers made from fish and spices that serve as flavouring, originated from Indonesia. The crackers also mixed with tapioca flour and/or sago flour as the main ingredients and the salt, sugar and MSG as seasonings. Fish crackers can be found in Southeast Asia and East Asia. However, they are more varied and commonly found in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Types
Indonesia
Next to krupuk udang (prawn cracker), krupuk ikan (fish cracker) is also a favourite snack, as both are popular krupuk types known in Indonesia. Tenggiri (wahoo) and cakalang (skipjack tuna) probably are the most popular fish used for fish crackers. Nevertheless, any other edible fishes, such as bawal (pomfret) and ekor kuning (Caesionidae) might also be used.
Cirebon in West Java and Palembang in South Sumatra are famous for their unique fish crackers that use tengiri. Some coastal fishing towns and cities in Indonesia has developed their own recipes and types. Kemplang for example is associated with Southern Sumatra region, from Lampung, Palembang, to Bangka island. While amplang is associated with coastal Borneo, from Samarinda, Balikpapan, Banjarmasin, to Pontianak. In Palembang, fish crackers are usually eaten with pempek fish cake in kuah cuko or sweet, spicy and sour vinegar based sauce.
Coastal fishing towns are traditionally known as the production centers of fish crackers. In Indonesia, fish cracker are produced in Bangka and Belitung island, Cirebon in West Java, Juwana in Central Java, and Sidoarjo in East Java. Major coastal cities such as Palembang, Bandar Lampung, Medan, Makassar, Pontianak and Samarinda are also a major production centers.
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Two types of krupuk ikan (fish cracker), flat and curly
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Krupuk ikan from Palembang
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Bangka fish cracker
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Krupuk kemplang from Bandar Lampung
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Krupuk amplang or kuku macan from Balikpapan
Malaysia
It is a favourite snack in Malaysia and its neighbouring countries, and there are several fish cracker producers that are operating in the coastal areas of Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Johor, Kedah, Sabah and Sarawak. The types of fish that normally used to process these fish crackers are the Wolf herring (Ikan parang), Sardines (Ikan tamban), Round scad (Ikan selayang), Threadfin bream (Ikan kerisi), Ox-eyed scad (Ikan lolong bara), Goatfish (Ikan biji nangka), Lizard fish (Ikan conor) and many others.
Historically, Mukah town in Sarawak is known as a fishing town for the making of fish crackers.
