Sambal Kerecek: Buffalo Skin Crackers in Coconut Milk and Chilli Marinade

Sambal Kerecek

Sambal kerecek is a typical Yogyakarta dan Central Java dish. Kerecek is a kind of crackers made from the inner skin layer of buffalo. In this savory dish,  the kerecek is soaked with spices, chili and coconut milk marinade. The krecek will absorb all the spices, and you might want to add more salt, terasi (fermented prawn)  and pepper  during the cooking process. Sambal kerecek is frequently served with gudeg (jackfruit stew) and opor- and it's surely a delicious one. If you like spicy food, I think you should give sambal kerecek a try. Please  excuse my translation of sambal kerecek, I couldn't find a better one.^^

First of all, here's some picture of ingredients

bird eye chili

Fried krecek, sized 250gr

coconut milk

asam kandis

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 60 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients

250 gr of fried kerecek, soak in water about 15 minutes to soften it
100 gr black eyed peas, soaked overnight

300 ml coconut milk

700 ml water

a handful of bird eye chili

25 gr galangal, peeled and crushed

2 asam kandis

3 tablespoon liquid palm sugar/80 gr of solid palm sugar

2 tsp cooked terasi

4 bayleaf (daun salam)

4 tsp white pepper (lada putih)

4 tsp salt

1 tsp MSG

2 tsp of cooking oil

Make into paste: 12 shallots, 8 garlic and 8 red chilli (cabe merah keriting)

Instructions:

• heat oil in a pan, then add the spice paste. fry until fragrant about 2 minutes. use slow heat
• add pepper, asap kandis, palm sugar and bayleaf
• pour 150 ml coconut milk and 350 ml water into pan. add 2 tsp salt. mix well
• add soaked kerecek and black eyed pea. then cover the pan. stir occasionally
• when all the coconut milk is soaked, then add the remaining coconut milk and water, 2 tsp salt and MSG.
• Add bird eye chili 
• Cook in slow heat. Stir occasionally. The whole process should take 60 minutes and do not rush it. Do check the taste before transferring to plate (usually pepper, terasi and salt need to be adjusted- every kerecek is different so adjusting is important)
• transfer to serving plate. Enjoy with steamed rice, gudeg and opor.

the mixture of kerecek will look oily and spicy