Popiah

Popiah are the Nonya equivalent of a spring roll - lots of fresh ingredients stuffed into a very thin wrapper, and eaten with sauces. The easiest option is to buy ready-made popiah wrappers, but I've also included alternate options of making your own crepes, or using tortillas. Without specialist materials, you won't be able to make them as tissue-paper-thin as the professional ones, but they'll still taste good.

This makes a great assemble-yourself party food, and is also a popular hawker dish across large parts of Asia (the Malaysian / Singapore versions evolved out of Chinese / Taiwanese versions, and you'll also find spring-roll inspired dishes in Thailand and Vietnam). In some areas, the rolls are likely to come sealed and deep-fried. Here in Singapore, they're stuffed with warm minced radish or turnip, shredded lettuce or cabbage, peanut powder, and tiny prawns. There's no right or wrong way to make a popiah, as there are so many regional variations. Whichever way you go, it's bound to be yum, so I suggest you give them a try!

Recipe

1-2 eggs, hard-boiled, shelled and chopped, or cooked as a thin omlette and sliced into ribbons
Lettuce, separated into leaves, washed and dried
Cucumber, julienned
Prawns, cooked, shelled and chilled (if desired)
Crab meat, cooked, shelled and chilled (if desired)
Chinese sausage, steamed and sliced (if desired)
Popiah wrappers, or thin tortilla wrappers, or crepes (see below)
Selection of sauces, including hoisin and chilli sauce, to serve

For the crepes (alternate to popiah wrappers)
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup corn flour
2 eggs, beaten
Pinch salt
Oil or lard

For the cooked filling
1 tsp oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp minced garlic
1 cup beansprouts
1 cup mushrooms, thinly sliced
3-4 water chestnuts, julienned (if desired)
Jicama (sweet turnip), julienned (if desired)
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp black bean sauce

For the filling:
Heat the oil in a large pan or wok. Add the onion and garlic over high heat, stirring constantly to avoid burning. Add the other vegetables, and stir-fry quickly. Finally add the sauces to season, and set aside.

For the crepes:
Mix the flours, eggs, salt, and enough water to make a smooth batter (probably 3/4 - 1 cup). It should be the consistency of thin cream.

Heat the oil in a large, flat pan or skillet. Pour a small amount of batter and spread thinly across the bottom of the pan, using either a spatula/pallet knife, or swirling the pan (basically whatever crepe technique works for you).

As soon as the crepe is set, flip it to cook the other side. Repeat with the remaining batter.

To serve:
Lay out all the ingredients and let everyone assemble their own popiahs - I like to line each crepe or wrapper with a lettuce leaf, then pile on all the other ingredients and drizzle with hoisin sauce. Wrap tightly and enjoy.

I don't believe the mushrooms are a traditional addition to this dish, but I happen to like mushrooms, so I've included them. I've also cooked the beansprouts, to avoid any risk of food contamination.

Serves: 2-3
Preparation and cooking time: 20-30 minutes