Malaysia Veterinary Forum (Archive)

Dr. TanDY · Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 10:19 pm Post subject: Deer hide keropok, anyone?

Deer hide keropok, anyone?

Date: 7 July 2006

TAIPING: Deer hide is commonly used in the fashion world but now it has found its way into the food industry.

Sold as keropok kulit rusa (deer hide crackers), it is among the food items on display at the four-day Perak Halal Industries Exposition 2006, which started at the Taiping Lake Garden yesterday.Despite the hefty RM50 a kg price tag, the snack drew streams of visitors to the booth manned by staff of the Veterinary Services Department who operate a deer farm in Lenggong, about 70km from here.

Farm manager Dr Rafiah Aini said the product was developed jointly with a local entrepreneur and samples of the crackers had been sent for laboratory tests.

“The tests carried out on the keropok show that it is safe to eat. It contains polyunsaturated fats, which is good for health. But don’t eat too much as it can cause heatiness in some people,” she told visitors yesterday.

Dr Rafiah said that to make the crackers, deer hide is ground before it is mixed with flour. The mixture is then cooked and cut into thin pieces, which are dried and then fried.

The exposition is jointly organised by the Perak government, Cooperative Development Department, Islamic Development Department, RTM, and Koperasi Siswazah Kinta Bhd.

Apart from the unusual snack, the booth also offers frozen food items such as curry deer puff, decorative items carved from antlers, pickled deer meat and deer hide.

The deer farm now has about 1,300 deer of various species. It was relocated from its original site in Tanjung Malim in 1997.