Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Making prawn crackers

Besides all the ang paus, new clothes and clear roads, my CNY will not be complete without mum's prawn/ fish crackers. She's been making this every year for as long as I can remember. And shame on me for not keen enough to learn or even helping out...until this year. And boy oh boy...it was not easy at all.
Step1:
Peel and de-vein white medium sized prawns - use only 'whitish' prawns as it will not make the crackers too yellowish. DO not buy anything smaller than your pinky finger as you will have hell of a time peeling and de-vein-ing them.
Step 2:
Mince medium-sized white prawns until it become paste - this takes like forever until both my arms are tired. My mum doesn't use food processor as she said it will make the paste watery and taste different wor...
Step 3:
Add in salt, sugar, pepper, baking soda and a little msg...
Step 4:
Mix the paste with tapioca starch and a little bit of water
Step 5:
Knead the dough (and toss it and turn it and squeeze it) - and this is again a tedious thing to do...poor arms of mine...
Step 6:
Roll the well-kneaded dough (ermm...when it is a bit tough and getting harded to knead) into logs of the same size
Step 7:
Steam the logs for hmmm....until they are cooked
Step 8:
Once cooled, put them in the fridge and refridgerate overnight for it to harden
Step 9:
Use a sharp knife (very important) and cut them in small pieces
Step 10:
Dry the slices under the hot sun for several days - watch out for cats/ monkeys for they will steal... 
Step 11:
Lastly, fry them in hot oil and put them in tin cans...or straight to the mouth (which might cause sore throat the next day).

I was guided by my mum all the time (and maybe she helped a bit....ok ok...helped a lot). I make a promise to myself to make it all on my own the next time. :P

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