It’s my first blog entry for the new year, and we are already approaching Chinese New Year!! For those who are unaware, Chinese New Year falls on a different date every year but usually anywhere from mid-January to mid-February. I definitely miss celebrating Chinese New Year in Asia. I miss visiting my relatives and miss all the yummy CNY goodies. And you know what I miss most of all…?? RED PACKETS!!! 😀
Emping is a shrimp-based Indonesian cracker made with Melinjo nuts. Apparently I share the same appreciation of this snack with OBAMA, who praised it as “enak” (delicious). I loved the combination of its subtle sweetness with the savoury shrimpy taste. So delicious. I could probably finish a whole packet by myself in a day! Although that might not be such a great idea.
I do realize though that it might come off somewhat as an acquired taste. Some of my friends who are native to Vancouver would prefer the more generic shrimp crackers to Emping.
This is the more widely known shrimp cracker, Krupuk, which can also be considered the “parent cracker” of Emping
Making Emping or Kerupuk is so simple! Pour approximately 1 cup of vegetable / canola oil into your frying pan with medium heat temperature and start frying the chips one by one.
Ta-daaaah!
I later found this recipe for Emping Cookies from DG. It was absolutely delicious! I loved it and my cousin (who is Indonesian) loved it too! I wish I doubled the recipe because I literally could finish it all by myself! Brad (native Vancouverite) didn’t agree too much with my cousin and I though. He thought they were just alright. I guess I could attribute this to him not being accustomed to the taste of emping. Either way, if you do love the taste of emping, or have it handy, I would suggest you give the Emping Cookies a try! They are pretty easy to manage after all!
Ingredients
6 tbsp butter
1/2 cup icing sugar
3/4 cup flour
1 yolk
1/2 cup crushed Emping
Preheat oven at 3750
– Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
– Add egg yolk, mix well.
– Add flour and salt, mix well.
– Add melinjo crackers, mix well.
– Make into small balls and press the top with fork.
– Arrange on a greased tray and glaze the surface with egg yolk
– Bake for about 20 minutes.
– Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.
Ta-daaah!! That’s it…. That was so easy and soooo delicious! Hope you guys loved it too!
Here’s to the first Chinese New Year Cookie. Many more to come…. 🙂
Sweet Samsations 
I remember when shrimp crackers used to come with all Chinese take-out, in all different colors. I LOVED them (Are those what I see in the third photo?). Anyway, no doubt I would love the Emping crackers, and those Emping cookies look divine! Chinese New Year is awesome…the celebrations in Chinatown, NYC are spectacular!
Wow, what interesting flavors in a cookie or a cracker. I am new to most Asian snacks and foods beside the American versions. Hope this cookie makes you feel a little bit more like you might be at Chinese New Year 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend xoxox.
Shrimp cookies???? So interesting, I’ll have to give them a shot since it’s so unexpected
Yup! That’s right! They are quite popular in Chinese restaurants but they’re a staple in Southeast Asia!!! 😀 wowww.. Never been to NYC. Would kill to visit there!!!
Thanks Suzanne! That’s so sweet of you! Asian ingredients can sometimes be a chore hunting for, but not in Vancouver! haha.. Hope you have a wonderful weekend too!
do give them a shot! they are quite tasty and distinct from most cookies! 🙂
This is something new to me, I hope I can find Emping over here so that I can try this one out
Oh I love love love these belinjo crackers! I actually have a whole precious stash of them stored in an unused microwave and I can eat way too much of them in one sitting if left unsupervised.
I would never have thought to bake them into cookies though- they do sound really intriguing!
Deeeelish! Want to try those!
Yeah! They’re usually sold in Indonesian grocery stores! 🙂
LOL! Aww! I’m the same way with you! I need someone to grab my hand and stop me from eating too muuuch!!! Only have half a pack left imported from Indonesia right now, so need to salvage for some special time.
You should!!! Hope you’ll enjoy it!!
Thanks for sharing the shrimp chips, they were delicious! ❤
Glad you and your family enjoyed them! I would’ve finished them if they were left at my house. hahaha..
Wait, wait, wait… Let’s start from the beginning here. You say they mostly sell all these snacks in Indonesian grocery stores, but where are all these markets? I moved to Vancouver two years ago and I still have yet to find a good Indonesian grocery store… Share your Indo market knowledge with an Indo craving food from home?
Hi Dawn. Unfortunately Indonesian grocery stores are very rare in Vancouver so I cannot answer that question for you. My crackers were imported from Jakarta. I believe you got that impression from my reply to Raymund. Indo grocery stores are much more visible in the Aussie continent!
I love Krupuk Emping! My mother used to make it all the time when i was growing up. Now that i live in the United States it’s difficult to find any Indonesian grocery stores, but http://www.indofoodstore.com has a lot of different Indonesian foods, including crackers. Check it out 🙂