Popiah is one of my favorite local snacks. I love to have it with a little chilli sauce and lots of minced garlic! The choice of ingredients for the vegetable fillings is really up to you. The two main ingredients will be carrot and turnips (or some uses bamboo shoots). The other secondary ingredients may include Chinese mushrooms and dried prawns, which add natural good flavours to the dish, instead of adding MSG.
The additional toppings, is again based on your personal preference. This time, I used imitation crab legs, fried tofu, Chinese sausages, imitation abalone, spring onion, blanched bean sprouts, fish floss, toasted crushed peanuts and sesame seeds. The sauce to go along: sweetened black sauce, chilli paste and lots of minced garlic :)
What is popiah without the popiah skin? The traditional popiah skin is paper-thin and requires many years of experience (and probably burnt palm too!) to master it. The easiest way to get your popiah skin is to buy it from the wet market stalls. I can't get hold of fresh popiah skin, so just had to make my own. I don't think it is worth burning my hands for making the traditional popiah skin. Instead, I adapted the popiah skin recipe from here. This skin is very light and soft, yet strong enough to hold and wrap up the popiah fillings.
Popiah skin
(makes about 9 to 10 pieces, each about 8" circle)
100g plain flour + 20g soon kueh flour (or use wheat starch flour)
3 medium-sized eggs
200ml water
1 tbsp corn oil
1/2 tsp salt
Method:
1) Beat the eggs and gradually add in the combined flour and salt. Mix well before adding in the water, follow with oil. Stir well till you have a light and thin batter. Set aside for about 20 minutes before using.
2) Heat up a non-stick pan over medium low heat. Add a few drops of oil and lightly wipe away the excess oil with kitchen paper. Pour a ladle of batter into the pan and quickly swirl the pan to spread the batter to form a thin skin (or crepe).
3) When the edge of the crepe starts to curl away from the side, gently lift the crepe with a spatula and flip it over to the other side. Wait for another 30 seconds, then gently transfer the crepe onto a plate. It takes about 2 minutes to cook each crepe. Repeat steps (2) and (3) for each crepe till you used up all the batter.
4) Separate each crepe with a small piece of kitchen paper or baking paper to prevent them from sticking together.
Recipe for the turnip and carrot fillings can be found here.
