cupcakesordeath: Popiah Party

I am lucky to have friends who cook. Almost all of the guys in my office could cook well. And I'm talking about roasts, stews, curries, pies and cheesecakes here. While most of them are still single & available, alas I'm not! Hahah...any takers?

Now I have a good friend from Melaka who cooks Nyonya dishes really well (I think he's still available!). He invited a few friends over for dinner last week and the menu for the night was.... nyonya popiah (spring rolls). It's not the deep fried variety that you usually have as appetisers, but somewhat like a cold version of the Chinese spring rolls.

The skin of the popiah is akin to crepe, the batter is made of eggs, flour & water. The roll is filled with an assortment of ingredients, usually; finely shredded cucumber, blanched bean sprouts, lettuce leaf, shredded omelette and the star of the line up - shredded jicama (chinese turnip) & diced bean curd cooked with preserved soy bean paste (tauchiu). Not forgetting the 3 types of paste for the base - freshly pounded chilli, garlic and sweet thick brown sauce (teechiu).

My friend wanted to retain the originality of the dish. So instead of just buying the skin from the store, he painstakingly made them. Not an easy feat, especially when you want to get smooth egg skins. The pan has to be of the right temperature or the skin will turn out perforated. But hey, if anybody could do it, it's gotta be him. Here are some pics I managed to take that night, (before I totally abandoned my camera and pigged out on the food) ;)

clockwise from top: banana(hahah....not part of the ingredient tho), in the tray we have, (coriander leaves, omelette, chilly, bean sprouts, cucumber & a jar of teechiu), chinese turnip, popiah skin & lettuce leaves

Here's how to assemble;