Popiah
Popiah are the straits chinese or nonya version of the spring roll. Do not be put off by the number of ingredients; it takes a little time to get everything together but once it is all on the table the cook can retire as guests assemble their own.
Ingredients
- 40g / 1½oz / ⅓ cup cornflour
- 215g / 7½oz / generous 1¾ cups plain flour
- salt
- 450ml / ¾ pint / scant 2 cups water
- 6 eggs, beaten
- lard, for frying
For the cooked filling:
- 30ml / 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 115g / 4oz cooked pork, chopped
- 115g / 4oz crab meat or peeled cooked prawns, thawed if frozen
- 115g / 4oz drained canned bamboo shoot, thinly sliced
- 1 small yam bean peeled and grated or 12 drained canned water chestnuts finely chopped
- 15-30ml / 1-2 tbsp yellow salted beans
- 15ml / 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- ground black pepper
For the fresh fillings:
- 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
- 2 Chinese sausages, steamed and sliced
- 115g / 4oz packet fried beancurd (tofu), each piece halved
- 225g / 8oz / 4 cups beansprouts
- 115g / 4oz crab meat or peeled cooked prawns
- ½ cucumber, cut into matchsticks
- small bunch of spring onions, finely chopped
- 20 lettuce leaves, rinsed and dried
- fresh coriander sprigs, to garnish
- selection of sauces, including bottled chopped chillies, bottled chopped garlic and hoisin sauce, to serve
Preparation
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- Sift the flours and salt into a bowl. Add the measured water and eggs and mix to a smooth batter.
- Grease a heavy-based frying pan with lard. Heat the pan, pouring off any excess lard, then pour in just enough batter to cover the base.
- As soon as it sets, flip and cook the other side. The pancakes should be quite thin. Repeat with the remaining batter to make 20-24 pancakes in all. Pile the cooked pancakes on top of each other, with a layer of greaseproof paper between each to prevent them sticking. Wrap in foil and keep warm in a low oven.
- Make the cooked filling. Heat the oil in a wok and stir-fry the onion and garlic for 5 minutes until softened but not browned. Add the pork, crab meat or prawns, bamboo shoot and grated yam bean or water chestnuts. Stir-fry the mixture over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the salted yellow beans and soy sauce to the wok, with pepper to taste. Cover and cook gently for 15-20 minutes, adding a little water if the mixture starts to dry out. Spoon into a serving bowl and allow to cool.
- Meanwhile, arrange the chopped hard-boiled eggs, sliced Chinese sausages, sliced beancurd (tofu), beansprouts, crab meat or prawns, cucumber, spring onions and lettuce leaves in piles on a large platter or in separate bowls. Spoon the bottled chopped chillies, bottled chopped garlic and hoisin into small bowls.
- Each person makes up his or her own popiah by spreading a very small amount of chopped chilli, garlic or hoisin sauce on a pancake, adding a lettuce leaf, a little of the cooked filling and a small selection of the fresh ingredients. The pancake wrapper should not be over-filled.
- The ends can be tucked in and the pancake rolled up in typical spring roll fashion, then eaten in the hand. They also look attractive simply rolled with the filling showing. The popiah can be filled and rolled before guests arrive, in which case, garnish with sprigs of coriander. It is more fun though for everyone to fill and roll their own.
COOK'S TIP
Yam beans are large tubers with a mild sweet texture similar to water chestnuts.
Makes 20-24 pancakes.