EspañolChinese restaurants in Spain are quite different from Chinese restaurants in the US; which makes you wonder, of course, which, if either, is the most authentic. While certain dishes, like my favorite almond chicken, can be found in the restaurants of both countries, other dishes, appetizers, and desserts are non-existant in one country or the other.
Prawn crackers are one of those. I have never been to a Chinese restaurant in Spain that doesn’t greet you with a plate of prawn crackers before your meal, nor have I ever seen them at any Chinese restaurant that I’ve been to in the US.
My son is obsessed with them, and I have a bit of a love hate relationship with them.
Why do I love them?
Well, they are usually made with tapioca flour and no wheat, so they are gluten and grain free. Plus, I like the texture and find them addictive.
What don’t I love?
At restaurants, I don’t know what oil has been chosen to fry them, or for how long it’s been used. They are often dyed strange colors, like an unnatural pink, to mimic the amount of shrimp that they likely don’t have. Lastly, without being able to see the ingredient list of the particular prawn crackers in each place, I don’t know which ones use wheat or other ingredients I’m avoiding, and which do not.
Making them at home isn’t difficult, but most people’s idea of making them at home is buying a box of prawn cracker disks and frying them at home. That method does help with some of the problems with prawn crackers from restaurants. By frying them myself, I can use any fresh oil that I choose, and can check the ingredients of the prawn crackers I buy.
Sadly, though, none of the available prawn crackers seem to have much prawn in them at all. So, I decided to make some prawn crackers from scratch. Yes, you read that right; completely from scratch!!
People here will probably think that tI’m crazy for using fresh, red, Denia shrimp for my prawn crackers, since they are considered an expensive, gourmet food saved for special occasions; but seeing as my husband is a shrimp fisherman, I tend to have some to spare. 😉 (Jealous?)
This a great way for me to use up leftover shrimp. The shrimp my husband catches are naturally red, so my crackers end up with a natural coral pink color. The flavor and color of your crackers will depend on the shrimp you use, of course.
Seeing as how this week my son has been celebrating the Chinese New Year at school, this is the perfect time to share this recipe with you!
For those who love Asian food, I also have a few other Asian inspired recipes up like my grain free fortune cookies, my pickled ginger, or my fried zucchini noodles.
Prawn Crackers from Scratch
Ingredients
- 500 g tapioca flour
- 500 g shrimp or prawns - peeled and deveined
- 1 tsp. salt or to taste
- oil for frying
- garlic, pepper, other spices optional
- 1 tsp. baking powder optional - for puffier crackers
Instructions
- Add your shrimp to your food processor, and process until you have achieved a fine paste.
- Add in your tapioca flour, and continue to process until the mixture comes together into a thick dough.
- Add in your salt, and any other spices that you want to add, and mix them in well, to taste. You can add in a bit of cayenne pepper if you want spicy prawn crackers. If you want your crackers to puff up more when deep frying them, add in a little baking powder.
- Check the texture of your dough. You may need to add in a bit of water, or a bit more tapioca flour, to get a workable dough.
- Knead the dough until it is smooth, adding more flour and/or water as needed.
- Shape the dough into two log shaped rolls that will fit into your steamer. I placed mine directly in my bamboo steamer, but have since read that other people place them over banana leaves or foil.
- Steam for about an hour. You will notice that the color and texture of your rolls will change quite a bit.
- Remove the dough from the steamer, and let them cool. They should now have a rubbery texture.
- Cut thin slices from your rolls of dough. You can use a sharp knife or a food processor, like I did.
- Dry the slices using your method of choice. I set mine out in the sun, covered by netting to keep insects away, but you can also use a dehydrator or an oven at low heat. They will probably curl up a little, and they should dry up into hard little disks.
- Once completely dry, you can deep fry your prawn crackers. Use enough oil so that your crackers can be submerged in the oil completely. To achieve the right temperature, wait until a small piece of cracker sinks down in the oil and then immediately floats up to the surface and begins to expand. You may have to press down on the crackers to submerge them completely in the oil, or they may not expand completely, leaving dry, hard, un-fried areas.
- Remove from the oil, and drain on cloths or paper towels. Serve immediately, and enjoy!
Notes
DIY Balsamic Reduction Recipe
Hi, great recipe, many thanks. I’ve followed all the instructions and all went well, the discs were nice and hard and puffed up really well when frying, but a lot of the crackers are chewy even though they look crispy and puffed up well, any I doing something wrong?
Hi Gary,
I found that if the disks were on the thicker side, they ended up being chewier rather than crisp. I had the same problem when trying to use the end pieces of the rolls after slicing from them.
I’m not sure if it’s because they aren’t as fully dehydrated in the center. (They may dry so well on the outside that the center stays slightly moist and can’t fully dry anymore. This happens when you try to cure a sausage in an area that is too dry.)
It also can depend on the frying process itself. If the oil isn’t the right temperature and not all of the disk completely puffs out, the areas that haven’t fully puffed stay chewier.
I hope that makes sense and helps you pinpoint the problem.
I’ve found that the best homemade crackers were made very, very thin in a food processor. That said, I tried to make them again with the same method and ended up breaking one of the disks of my food processor. So, there’s that problem, if you aren’t careful. 😉
Thank you for the recipe. I was thinking of experimenting with dried pork or beef so I looked up various recipes for prawn chips to see if I can exchange prawns for other kinds of meat.
You are right about Chinese food being different in each country even in other Asian countries like Japan or Thailand. Being an ethnic Chinese who was born in Canada, I’ve learned that restaurants have needed to adjust their recipes to the tastes of the community around them or people won’t come. Using what is locally available as ingredients is also key to staying in business since ingredients used in recipes may not always be easily acquired. It might not allowed to be shipped to the country they’ve moved to. Or it may go bad before it can get here or also may be too costly to get it.
So cooks have to be creative and sometimes create new dishes. Doesn’t mean it isn’t Chinese, just means it was created by someone Chinese outside of China.
Different dishes could also mean different regions of China, cooking is different between Cantonese, Szechuan, Beijing or even Taiwanese. The differences could be in cooking methods, ingredients or even types of cookware.
Anyhow thanks for the recipe.
Hi Wendy,
That’s an interesting observation!
I haven’t tried making them with other meats, but I’d imagine you could do it. If you do give it a try, I’d love to hear how it goes!
I find the difference between how various countries interpret food from elsewhere absolutely fascinating! The difference in how chinese (and also korean, thai etc) food is made between the UK, US, Germany, Spain and France (where I live now) is amazing. Which is fine, but every now and then I do just want the (no doubt completely inauthentic) UK version of things… which brings me to this recipe.
One thing that France don’t seem to do is Prawn Crackers, and I’ve been missing them so much. Now I’ve found a way to make them myself, and it looks so much easier than I was expecting. Just need to google a translation of “tapioca flour” 🙂
Thank you so, so much!
Hi Mathew,
I agree!
In the US, they don’t normally serve prawn crackers in Chinese restaurants either. At least I’ve never seen them served in Michigan.
I was also amazed at how large the egg rolls were in the Chinese restaurants here in Spain. They are much larger and rolled differently than the ones I was used to.
Here, I miss things that we had back home like sizzling rice soup and sesame or bourbon chicken. 😉
Hi Tracy,
Bangkok Cuisine in the Detroit area serves them (at least they used to). I always put them in my hot and sour soup.
Hi Jim,
Really?
That’s funny because I used to live in Ypsilanti and we would occasionally go into Detroit to eat at a Chinese buffet there. I don’t remember there being prawn crackers at the one we went to, though.
That was years ago, though. Perhaps things are changing. 😉
I think it depends on which part of the far east influenced the type of Chinese food available.
In the UK its Hong Kong so Cantonese, in France its Indochina so Vietnamese and in the States its Chinese but has a much longer history and the cuisine reflects that. It may actually be that prawn crackers are quite a modern food and so the Chinese in the US don’t have that as a dish
A good example of how colonial assets had this effect is to compare Indian food in the UK and France or Spain. Its authentic in the UK with many variations depending on where those particular immigrants came from in the sub-continent, but in France its a mishmash of restaurants many run by Immigrants who don’t come from India at all but rather from places like Mauritius and so the food is to say the least strange. its changing now the French are beginning to taste real Indian food traveling to the UK but its still very hit and miss.
The first time I visited an Indian restaurant in the US was back in 1980 and it was terrible. It was run by Indians but not caterers but rather as many where in those days by immigrants that thought it would be a good idea to open a restaurant and anyway Americans wont know the difference. In the UK the first Indian restaurants were for their own community and so the food had to be authentic. The US version was poor quality home cooking, all heat and very little flavour. The tandoori Chicken was cooked in a western oven, that alone was a crime against good taste. If you don’t have a tandoor don’t cook tandoori food simple, even nans taste horrible unless they are cooked in a tandoor.
When I travel around the UK my trick to find a good Indian Restaurant is to see how many Indians are eating there and if it’s more than half take a table.
Wow- That’s so interesting. I hadn’t thought of it that way, but love your comment (and your tip for choosing a restaurant)!
Thanks, Michael, for your insight!
To make slicing easier, refrigerate the steamed rolls overnight. They will form up and be easier to slice, or, partially freeze them, like you do with meat when you want very thin slices.
Great idea! Thanks for the tip, Bill!
I’m planning on making again soon, so I’ll give it a try- and will update with my findings. 😉
If you freeze them after they come out of the steamer (after cooling) then use a very sharp knife, veg peeler or a mandolin slicer, you can get very thin slices from them.
Hi Hastha!
Thank you so much for the tip. That’s a great idea!
awesome!! I have never tried fresh homemade prawn crackers but these look so amazing I love the ones they serve at my local chinese resturants but I guess there isn’t any prawns in them and I think I may give these a go these would be lovely to serve with some drinks at dinner party with friends!!
Hi Melissa,
Yes, depending on the shrimp/prawns used they can have a lot more flavor than the ones you buy or are served at restaurants. (Even those vary a lot from restaurant to restaurant.)
They’re a bit of work, but it’s a fun process to watch. The hardest part is getting the slices thin enough for them to expand in the oil. If you can get thin, even slices, though, they are really nice.
I didn’t know that prawn crackers had prawns in them! I gave them to my daughter who is allergic to prawns and she’s been on a mazza ever since. I think that you should revaluate your recipe.
This is not a laughing matter
My daughter Sharon is heartbroken.
Well, commercially made prawn crackers may not have a high quantity of prawns in them, but most do have some. I guess some may be artificially flavored, but I’d personally avoid those. Some use crab meat or other fish to flavor them, but most people with an allergy to one type of shellfish probably have an allergy to others. By making them yourself, though, you could replace the prawns with something else similar (some sort of fish, perhaps).
Are you having a laugh!! You made prawn crackers and didn’t know they had prawns in then FFS are you thick or something??
Its a weird, weird world we live in Michael.
Dorothy, i’d advise you not to feed you daughter anything with “Prawn” in the name, it’s usually indicative of the contents.
🙂
your mum
fucking hell Michael and Ben. You absolute twats. was a joke. don’t cry. call me thick again and I’ll shag your grandad on Sunday,.
I’ve had the exact same issue with my son Albert who has a severe nut allergy. Ever since I fed Albert Nutella he’s not been breathing and he appears to be very tired as he hasn’t opened his eyes since. I honestly think this is an issue that needs to be addressed as it is becoming harder for parents like myself to identify which foods have nuts in them and which don’t. It’s honesty disgraceful.
Wow that’s shocking… I really thought my issue was bad when my son has a walnut allergy and I fed him snickers which has hazelnuts in them. Who knew that they would have the same effect?! They are completely different nuts. @ben @michael you should be more considerate towards other people and their real life issues… YOU GUYS ARE KEYBOARD WARRIORS who think it’s funny to mock concerned parents
Kollie, I’m afraid they are joking.
With the first comment, I wasn’t completely sure myself, so I tried to be open to either possibility.
Once it became clear, though, it was also apparent that there really is no brutal fighting going on in the comment section. That’s why I allowed it to stay with no moderation. 😉
Yes, dealing with food allergies and intolerances can be very difficult. My cousin has a very severe peanut allergy, and I remember having various scares growing up. It definitely can be stressful having to deal with that.
The case of different nuts is completely different than what they are joking about. I can see how something like that can happen and be very difficult to deal with. I feel for you and wish you the best. <3
Can these be made with Almond or Coconut flour? There are WAY to many carbs in Tapioca Flour for me. My son and I love these. I have never tried to make them but would love to try it. Even if I can’t have them, well maybe one.
Hi Kat,
I’m afraid that neither of those flours would work. Tapioca flour has a special (somewhat rubbery) texture that it acquires when it is steamed. That’s what makes it special for being able to use in certain recipes like this one.
I can only suggest keeping them as a special treat to limit your carbs (which is what I do). 😉
Hi, in my search today to find out if my newly diagnosed as allergic to both eggs and dairy son can have prawn crackers, I found your recipe. It not only looks fantastic but if we make them at home he can have them. Thank you VERY much!
Hi Georgia,
I’m so happy to have been able to help you! 🙂
Normally, most prawn crackers don’t have eggs or dairy, so your son should also be able to have most of the ones that can be bought in the Asian markets for frying at home. That said, a lot of them do have other additives that can be problematic. I have sensitivities to MSG, for example. If I eat a few of them, I’m fine, but with an excess of MSG, I get shaky and get an irregular heartbeat and vertigo. It’s very scary. My husband studied my symtpoms and read that it’s actually a good thing to get them as MSG can be quite harmful whether or not you have symtoms to help show you that something is wrong.
Hi
Thanks fir the recip . What is the suitable thickness cutting should be .
Hi Afhal,
The thinner you can cut them, the better!
If they are too thick, it’s very difficult for them to puff up when fried in oil. I’ve found that the thinnest disks work best.
What can of prawn should I use. Fresh or dried. And can We manage the smell that come with the prawn dried one is used.
Hi Faith,
I used fresh, raw, peeled prawns. The humidity of the prawns is what holds everything together. I’ve never tried with dried prawns, but if you were to try it, you’d have to add water, and I’m not sure how it would work.
Anything dried like prawns would need to be reconstituted in a liquid.
Hi thanks for this recipe!! Just finished eating prawn crackers from the nearby chinese restaurant here in the Philippines and it tastes good! 🙂 I’m gonna try making this one. Btw, you are so beautiful! ❤️
Hi Merzl,
This could possibly be one of the sweetest comments ever, so thank you! 🙂
I just popped over to your beautiful website, and see that you are very beautiful too!
I’m really impressed by the quality of your blog, especially for someone as young as you are. (When I started this blog, it was a mess and very ugly. Ha!)
Wishing you the best of luck!
Can l microwave them instead of frying. I do this with packet one.
Hi Amanda,
I’m not really sure as I’ve never tried it. I have a microwave, but don’t really use it ever. I did try microwaving my homemade papadums, and that did work. I had never even considered trying with these, though.
I can try it when I make my next batch. I’ve been very strictly paleo lately and avoiding a lot of carbs while trying to lose my baby weight, though, so I can’t promise when I’ll get to making a new batch. 😉
I love prawn crackers so much mmmmmmmm. Please send me some!!!! I Suck them till they go soggy. Mmmmmmmm crackers ARRRRRRRRREEES PRAWN CRACKERS I LOVE YOU.
hahahaha 🙂
You can cook them straight away. There were a few leftover slices I could not fit on the oven trays and I decided to deep fry them. They don’t spatter and they crisp up slightly – but they were very nice. Like deep friend prawn dumplings. They would be very nice in a hot, sweet and sour sauce.
Interesting.
Thanks so much for sharing that, Cathy!
That’s very helpful.
I need to try to make these again. The first time I cut mine with a food processor, and they came out perfectly. I tried to make them again by cutting them with a knife and those didn’t turn out as well. I’m not sure if it was because I had done something differently or because it’s just too difficult to get them thin enough with a knife. Next time I’ll try to make a combination to see and get a better idea for advising people on what works best.
Nice Website, Continue the great work. Appreciate it!.
They are gross and look and taste like Styrofoam…….
Hello Brian,
Are you referring to the store bought prawn crackers or those served in restaurants?
There are many that do not use prawns at all, so, yes, it’s true that they don’t have much of a prawn flavor at all (if any). It is often substituted with artificial flavors and flavor enhancers. My father in law doesn’t like them either when they are served at restaurants. He thinks they taste like petroleum.
The homemade prawn crackers have a definite prawn flavor, though, much different than what you are normally served at restaurants. I’ll admit that it’s a bit of an effort to make them, which you probably aren’t willing to do if you aren’t much of a fan of prawn crackers to begin with, but I think you’d think differently about the homemade variety.
This might be a very silly question. But, do you use 500g of COOKED or UNCOOKED prawn?
Hi Lizzie,
I used raw prawn…
Maybe I should update the recipe. I think I want to make some changes anyway as the other day I tried making these again, but sliced them as thinly as possible with a knife because my food processor blade is partly broken and the prawn crackers are difficult for it to cut.
Anyway, they didn’t turn out the same way at all! They were too thick and didn’t puff up well at all.
I’ve heard other people successfully cut them, but it sure didn’t work for me!
Hi Stacy,
I just moved to Spain, and I was wondering is there a place where I can get tapioca flour? I used to leave in Asia and Australia and it was quite easy to find in all of the supermarkets.
Hi Alvrie,
Welcome to Spain. 🙂
It’s usually not too difficult to find here; you just have to know where to look.
In my city I can find it in several stores. The bigger supermarkets have it in the ethnic foods section- usually in either the Latin American section or the Asian section.
Likewise, smaller ethnic foods type stores tend to carry it too. I can find it in both the Asian foods supermarket and several stores that carry a variety of Latin American and other foods.
It’s usually called either “harina” or “almidón” de “mandioca” or “tapioca.”
I hope that helps!
Can I just fry them straight away after steaming?
Hi Sisca,
To be honest, I’ve never tried it. I’d be a bit worried about them spattering too much- or maybe not even puffing up right, but I’d love to hear how it turns out if you do give it a try. 😉