Alia’s late grandmother had 13 children, which meant that she had to cook for 13 different appetites. When rice, bread, noodles, and tapioca occasionally fell out of favour in the household, she came upon a rather ingenious solution: using crushed cream crackers as a carbohydrate source. When fried like this, it maintains its crunch while also absorbing the oil from the spice mix. Necessity really is the (grand)mother of invention.
Tableware by Ilham Ceramic Studio.
Fried crackers for one
by Alia Ali
Alia’s late grandmother had 13 children, which meant that she had to cook for 13 different appetites. When rice, bread, noodles, and tapioca occasionally fell out of favour in the household, she came upon a rather ingenious solution: using crushed cream crackers as a carbohydrate source. When fried like this, it maintains its crunch while also absorbing the oil from the spice mix. Necessity really is the (grand)mother of invention.
Tableware by Ilham Ceramic Studio.
Servings: 1
Prep time: Quick
Servings: 1
Prep time: Quick
Ingredients
1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 shallots, peeled
1 clove garlic, peeled
1/2 large red chilli, stalk removed
1 tbsp ikan bilis (dried anchovies)
1 egg
12 cream crackers (we use Hup Seng brand)
Salt to taste
Directions
- Using a blender or mortar and pestle, grind or pound the shallots, garlic, and red chilli until it becomes a rough paste. Add the ikan bilis and grind/pound for 10 seconds more.
- Heat a wok over medium flame, then pour in the vegetable oil. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the spice paste. Fry until pecah minyak, or until the oil begins to separate from the oil and the paste darkens in colour, about 3-5 minutes.
- Shift the spice paste to one side in the wok, and crack the egg directly into the wok. Stir the egg occasionally until the egg whites become fully opaque, then stir it through the spice mixture.
- Taste at this point and add enough salt to taste. Remember that cream crackers are already salty, so do not oversalt.
- Using your palm, crush a few crackers at a time into the wok. The crackers need not be uniformly crushed—a variety of larger shards and smaller crumbs are ideal.
- Once everything is mixed well, dish out onto a plate and serve hot.
Tips
- Use this recipe as a jumping-off point to cooking with cream crackers. Try cream crackers instead of rice in your regular fried rice, whether it be Chinese, Thai, or any other style.
- You can also experiment with different types of crackers, but cream crackers are the most versatile.
Ingredients
1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 shallots, peeled
1 clove garlic, peeled
1/2 large red chilli, stalk removed
1 tbsp ikan bilis (dried anchovies)
1 egg
12 cream crackers (we use Hup Seng brand)
Salt to taste
Directions
- Using a blender or mortar and pestle, grind or pound the shallots, garlic, and red chilli until it becomes a rough paste. Add the ikan bilis and grind/pound for 10 seconds more.
- Heat a wok over medium flame, then pour in the vegetable oil. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the spice paste. Fry until pecah minyak, or until the oil begins to separate from the oil and the paste darkens in colour, about 3-5 minutes.
- Shift the spice paste to one side in the wok, and crack the egg directly into the wok. Stir the egg occasionally until the egg whites become fully opaque, then stir it through the spice mixture.
- Taste at this point and add enough salt to taste. Remember that cream crackers are already salty, so do not oversalt.
- Using your palm, crush a few crackers at a time into the wok. The crackers need not be uniformly crushed—a variety of larger shards and smaller crumbs are ideal.
- Once everything is mixed well, dish out onto a plate and serve hot.
Tips
- Use this recipe as a jumping-off point to cooking with cream crackers. Try cream crackers instead of rice in your regular fried rice, whether it be Chinese, Thai, or any other style.
- You can also experiment with different types of crackers, but cream crackers are the most versatile.
