kampungku, kuala ibai: Keropok/Fish Cracker Kuala Ibai

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Keropok/Fish Cracker Kuala Ibai

KEROPOK- How it is made?

Having eaten kropok? How does it taste?

Do you know how it is made?

Why not have your own made keropok?

First, get the ingredients: (i) 1 kg of fresh sea fishes such as Mackerel/Sardines; (ii) 1/2 kg of sago flour/starch; (iii) salt and sugar; and (iv) Chilly sauce or Thai Chilly Sauce if you prefer hot sauce.

Secondly, wash fish and remove flesh from fish bone, blend the meat/flesh. Remember that the traditional way is to crash the fish with locally made equipment called "lesung batu" or "lesung kayu" or mortals perhaps I can describe. This method is used to crash the fish without adding water, not like the one using blender as it reduces the original taste of the fish.

ikan selayang and ikan tamban (far right) are suitable for making keropok lekor

Thirdly, add 1/4 of sago into the crashed meat. Crash them together using the lesung batu or hand mortal. Add some sugar or salt accordingly. You can taste the stuff to ensure it suit yours. Squeeze and roll the blend to ensure all ingredients mix together and create its pastry in a cylinder type looks for 1 feet long each and about 1 inch thick. You may have up to four or five rolls, depending on the length and the thickness of each roll.

raw fish roll/keropok lekor

Fourthly, boil about 5 liters of plain water. When the water is boiled, put each and every rolls into the pot for at least 1/2 hour. Move each of the rolls to ensure all of them are really cooked.

Fifthly, take out all rolls, let them cool and dry. You may eat the rolls now. This stuff is locally called "keropok lekor". Cut some small portion of the roll, deep it into the chilly sauce and have your own made keropok lekor. 

cooked or boiled fish rolls ready for meals

You may fry the roll and this stuff will be called "keropok lekor goreng" or fried keropok lekor.

fried fish rolls or fried keropok lekor

Sixthly, you may have the boiled rolls ready for slicing. Slice it into thin pieces or layers for all rolls. You may have plenty of pieces which locally known as "keropok keping" or pieces of keropok.

Next, dry it under direct sun light for couple of days until it is hard and dry. Now you have a small stock of keropok keping ready to be fried to become a fish cracker.

keropok keping or dried fish cracker ready to be fried

Now, you can bring it to anywhere. Just fry the stuff and you may serve you guests with fish crackers of your own brand.

fried fish crackers or keropok keping goreng for high tea

Remember, the percentage of sago and fish flesh are very important. Less sago more fish will make the taste of the roll a bit fishy and to me, it is good. However, this mixture is not good to be a keropok keping because it is not expanding much after being fried. Less fish more sago will make the keropok keping expanding or size up to double of its original size. But the taste is not as good as the one with more fish. So, may be you know now, why some fish crackers are tasted differently. For business purposes, they have to reduce fish in the mix to cut cost because sago is very much cheaper than fish.

Having learned how to create keropok, you may try it with your own paste now. It is cheap and worthwhile to try at home.

Perhaps, one day you may become a manufacturer for keropok, who knows?

Selamat mencuba and good luck.

kampungku, kuala ibai: Keropok/Fish Cracker Kuala Ibai