How to make spiced prawn crackers from scratch

A far cry from the white, bland prawn crackers that have hardly any flavour at all, these ones, made entirely from scratch, are more like those lovely crackers you can get in good Thai restaurants.

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This is, for me, a first: I have never made prawn crackers before and fancied giving them a shot. I am so glad I did, as this is something I plan to return to again and again! This is a recipe adapted from several sources to include flavours I like.

In essence, the dough (made in moments) gets steamed, chilled overnight, sliced thinly, dried and deep-fried.

Don’t get put off making these!

If it all seems something of a faff, please don’t get put off: there is little hands-on time, they are easy to make and the flavour is far superior than any prawn crackers you can buy.

A dehydrator helps things along enormously, although drying the discs of dough in the oven works very effectively, too.

I have taken the basics of a standard recipe for prawn crackers – equal weights of tapioca flour and prawns blitzed together with enough water to bind them – but I have upped the flavour quotient somewhat to give the sort of prawn crackers I love to eat.

YouTube demonstration of this recipe

A quick demo showing the stages for making these prawn crackers can be found on my YouTube channel: spiced prawn crackers

Spices!

I have gone very simple with the spices here, but I sometimes add a couple of teaspoons of shrimp paste, dried chilli or dried lemongrass powder to give extra oomph….

A mix and match affair is certainly in order, and you can use whatever spices you like. You can even keep the flavour very simple, though, by using just salt in the dough….

Recipe: spiced prawn crackers – serves 4 generously

Spiced prawn crackers

For the dough:

• 150g cooked, peeled prawns: king prawns, smaller prawns or a mixture.
  
• 150g tapioca flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon caster sugar
• 3 teaspoons garlic powder (smoked garlic powder is wonderful, too)
• 3 teaspoons ground white pepper
• about 50ml cold water, to mix

For deep-frying:

• vegetable oil

(1) Put the prawns in a food processor and pulse for a few moments until they become a paste. Add the remaining dough ingredients, apart from the water, and pulse for a minute or so until you have a very fine sandy texture.

(2) Add 50ml water and pulse until you get a thick dough, adding a little more water if necessary: after a few moments of pulsing, the dough will start to come together to form a ball. You want a soft but not sticky dough that holds it shape rather than falls apart.

dough for spiced prawn crackers

(3) Turn the dough onto the work surface and knead the dough for a few moments until smooth. Roll into a fat cylinder.

shaped dough for spiced prawn crackers: ready to steam

(4) Wrap the dough cylinder tightly in cling film. Steam for an hour before cooling and then chilling for several hours or overnight, still wrapped in the cling film.

NB 1: as it chills, the cooked dough will firm up to give a texture that is like soft plastic. After several hours chilling it will be firm enough to slice nicely. If leaving overnight, it will be firmer so be careful when you slice.
NB2: You can also freeze some of the dough if you prefer but defrost fully so you can slice it easily.

(5) Cut thin slices from the dough using a sharp knife, cutting to about 1-2mm thick. Alternatively, use a vegetable peeler along its length to give ribbons.

Steamed dough for spiced prawn crackers : sliced thinly

Steamed dough for spiced prawn crackers – sliced thinly

(6) Dry the slices in a dehydrator set to 60°C for 4-5 hours or until fully dry: alternatively, place them on baking trays lined with parchment and pop in the oven set to 50°C (fan oven).

Spiced prawn crackers – ready to dehydrate

Spiced prawn crackers: ready to dehydrate

NB: to test they are ready, they should feel very light, they will be firm and they will clatter. The spiced prawn discs can be stored in an airtight container until you are ready to deep-fry them. 

Spiced prawn crackers – dehyrated and ready to fry

(7) To deep-fry them, heat the oil to 190°C and drop several at a time into the hot oil for about 1 minute until puffed up, giving them a turn part-way through.

Spiced prawn crackers

(8) Remove from the oil, and drain on kitchen paper. Serve with a dip of choice.

Spiced prawn crackers

Author: Philip

Finalist on Britain’s Best Home Cook (BBC Television 2018). Published recipe writer with a love of growing fruit & veg, cooking, teaching and eating good food. View all posts by Philip