Keripik Kul - The (Almost) Extinct Ancient Snack

Let's talk about something that might be thrill your tongue.....

Dare to try something unique?

How about Keripik Kul (Kul Crackers). Hmmmm..... what is that?

If you see it for the first time, the first thing that came out of your mind is, "What a disgusting food!!!"

Well.... it's true. This cracker chips' appearance just like dried-crinkled skin. It has brown and black color combination. It has no any smelly taste or smell. Just like regular cracker. But you will never imagine if this cracker is made from snail. Yep..... it's true. In some area in Central Java (Semarang, Jogjakarta, and Solo), snail is one of the famous things to eat. Usually it served as Indonesia barbecue (Sate), or mixture for Soto (traditional soup made from coconut milk and the combination of other ingredients, like turmeric and lemon grass), and Pecel (traditional salad).

In East Java region, snail has been made as crackers that been known as Kul Crackers ("Kul" means Snail in East Java's dialect).

To make this kind of crackers, first of all, take out the snail meat from it shell ,then wash till it clean from its mucous . Then mix it with the prepared ingredients, and dried in the sun until crisp and dry. And finally, fried the dry snails, then packed.

Because of the difficulty of making this crackers, not so many people who still able to run the business. And recently, it is difficult to find this kind of snack. We can say it is a rare-kind of snack. So if one day you visit East Java, the first thing you should look for is Keripik Kul (Kul / Snail Cracker). Coz it almost extinct already and it already very hard to find.