Destination
Singapore
The story
Popiah (locally spelled porpia) is Singapore's Peranakan-style fresh spring roll and one of the country's most-shared party foods: a paper-thin fresh wheat-flour crepe wrapper is spread with a sweet dark plum sauce and a fierce chili paste, layered with lettuce leaves, a shredded braised-turnip filling (with dried shrimp, tofu and pork), sliced Chinese sausage, boiled egg, fresh prawns, crushed peanuts and fried crushed garlic, then rolled tight into a fat cylinder and eaten out of hand — no cutting. Every Peranakan family gathering has a popiah spread on the table where guests wrap their own rolls to their preferred filling combination. Sold at popiah-specialist hawker stalls (Kway Guan Huat on Joo Chiat Road makes their own wrappers by hand and has been doing so since 1938).
Method
Warm 4 tbsp oil in a small pan over medium-low heat. Add sliced garlic and fry, stirring, 4 to 5 minutes until pale golden and crisp. Drain on paper. Reserve.
Warm 3 tbsp oil in a large wok or heavy pot. Cook garlic, ginger and dried shrimp 60 seconds. Add pork belly; brown 5 minutes.
Add sliced mushrooms and tofu. Cook 3 minutes.
Add jicama, carrot, oyster sauce, dark soy, light soy, salt, sugar, white pepper and stock. Bring to a simmer, cover partially, and cook 45 to 60 minutes over medium-low heat until the jicama is very soft and the mixture is moist but not runny. Add green beans in the last 5 minutes.
Off the heat, let the filling cool to warm. It should be moist but not runny — if too wet, cook uncovered a few more minutes to reduce.
Set out all wrapping ingredients on the table in small bowls: cooked prawns, sausage, egg, lettuce leaves, cucumber, bean sprouts, crushed peanuts, coriander, fried garlic, sauces.
Lay each popiah wrapper on a plate. Cover with a damp towel to keep them pliable.
For each roll: lay a wrapper flat. Spread a thin line of plum sauce and a smaller line of chili paste across the middle. Add a lettuce leaf, then a spoon of the warm turnip filling. Top with cucumber, bean sprouts, a piece of sausage, half a prawn, chopped egg, crushed peanuts, fried garlic and coriander. Fold the bottom of the wrapper up over the filling, fold in the two sides, then roll tightly from bottom to top into a cigar shape. Cut in half or eat whole. Serve immediately.
Tips
- Jicama, not daikon. Jicama (bangkuang) is the classical Peranakan filling — sweeter and firmer than daikon. Any Chinese or Latin American grocer sells it. Daikon is the practical substitute.
- Braise until soft. The turnip must be nearly falling apart to give the classical popiah filling texture. Under-cooked jicama is chewy and crunchy in the wrong way.
- Wet but not runny. If the filling is too wet, the popiah wrapper tears. Reduce the liquid before wrapping.
- Assemble at the table. This is the whole point of popiah as a party food. Set out all the toppings and let guests wrap their own to their preferred combination.
- Fresh wrappers only. Popiah wrappers dry out fast. Buy them the day of serving and keep under a damp towel while assembling.
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