Kerupuk & Keripik

Indonesia has perhaps the largest variety of kerupuk. In Indonesia the term kerupuk refers to the type of relatively large crackers, while the term kripik or keripik is refer to smaller bite-size crackers; the counterpart of chips (or crisps) in western cuisine. For example potato chips is called keripik kentang in Indonesia. Usually krupuk is made from the dried paste from the mixture of starch with other ingredients, while keripik is usually made entirely from thinly sliced, sun-dried, and fried products without any mixture of starch. Another flour-based cracker with brittle of peanuts, anchovies or shrimps is called rempeyek. The leftover rice can be made crackers through sun-dried and deep fried to make rengginang or intip (Javanese) rice cracker. Kerupuk and keripik can be consummed solely as snack, or cracked and sprinkled on top of certain food as complement to add crispy texture. Certain Indonesian dishes such as gado-gado, karedok, rujak, asinan, bubur ayam and certain kinds of soto were known to require certain type of krupuk for toppings.

Kerupuk

There are numbers of variations on krupuk, many of which are made from the mixture of starch with seafood (shrimp, fish, or squid), but occasionally with rice, fruits, nuts or vegetables; these variations are more usual in southeast Asia. Krupuk udang (shrimp cracker), krupuk bawang (onion cracker), krupuk kampung (cassava starch cracker) and krupuk gendar (ground rice cracker) is ubiquitous in Indonesia. The examples of popular krupuk udang brands in Indonesia is Finna and Komodo brand. To achieve maximum crunchiness, most of this pre-packed raw krupuk udang must be sun-dried first before being deep fried at home. To cook krupuk, a wok and plenty of very hot cooking oil is needed. Raw krupuk is quite small, hard, and darker in color than cooked one.

Sidoarjo in East Java, also Cirebon and Garut in West Java are major producers of krupuk, and many recipes originate from there. A common variation, called emping is made from melinjo (Gnetum gnemon) nuts. Melinjo crackers were part of the dinner menu on Barack Obama's state visit to Indonesia in 2010, where he praised the crackers, alongside bakso (meatball soup) and nasi Goreng (fried rice), as delicious.

Fish cracker krupuk kemplang and krupuk ikan is particularly popular in Southern Sumatran city of Palembang and also on the island of Bangka. Another popular type is krupuk jangek or krupuk kulit, cracker made from dried cattle skin, particularly popular in Minangkabau area West Sumatra. Krupuk mie (noodle cracker) is yellowish krupuk made from noodle-like paste usually used for asinan topping, particularly popular in Jakarta and most of markets in Java.

Keripik

The smaller size cracker, known with its diminutive name kripik, can be savoury or sweet. It is often made from various dried fruits, tubers, vegetables, and fishes. The most popular are kripik singkong (cassava cracker) and kripik pisang (banana cracker), however another types of fruits or tubers crackers are also available such as; kripik apel (apple cracker) from Malang in East Java, also kripik nangka (jackfruit cracker), kripik salak (snake fruit cracker), kripik talas (taro cracker), kripik ubi (sweet potato cracker), and kripik sukun (breadfruit cracker). Another type of kripik are often coated with batter and deep fried until crispy and dry, such as kripik belut (eel kripik), and vegetable kripik such as kripik bayam (spinach cracker).

Tempe Chips (Keripik Tempe)
Ingredients

500 g tempeh
250 gr rice flour
5 lime leaves thinly sliced
250 ml water
500 ml cooking oil
Spice puree:

3 cloves garlic
1 tsp coriander
10 pecan
1 teaspoon salt

Method:

1. Tempeh slices as thin as possible, set aside
2. Place the rice flour in a container, place the spices, stir while pouring a little water until smooth. Add slices of lime leaves and stir well.
3. Heat the cooking oil, dip the tempe one by one into the batter of flour, fried. Fried tempeh into some oil until fairly submerged. Once cooked and dry, remove from heat.

Source: wikipedia & javakitchen