cassava chips — Indonesia

Keripik singkong, or cassava chips, are thin slices of cassava root deep-fried until crisp, a widely sold snack across Indonesia. Unlike a plain salted chip, many Indonesian versions are coated after frying in a seasoning that ranges from garlic and turmeric to a sweet-spicy chili sugar glaze called balado. They are sold in markets, roadside stalls and packaged for retail throughout the archipelago, eaten as an everyday snack with tea or coffee, or packed for travel and given as gifts between regions. To make them, peeled cassava is sliced very thin, sometimes with a corrugated blade for a ridged surface, then fried in batches in hot oil until crisp. For the seasoned versions, a paste of chili, garlic, shallot and sugar is cooked separately until it turns sticky and caramelized, then tossed with the hot chips so it coats them evenly and sets as it cools. The seasoning is where regional habits show most: some sellers keep to a simple salted chip similar to versions found elsewhere, others turn to the sweet, fiery balado coating, and turmeric or garlic powder chips are common as a milder alternative. Slice thickness and frying time are adjusted to get either a very light, shattering crunch or a slightly denser bite.