How to Make Malaysian Popiah – 2017 Edition

I remember the time I was invited to Singapore to film a series of cooking videos for an online media company. I was quite happy with the results but for the fact that they described me on their portal as a “food blogger”. Anybody can blog, but I’d bet my bottom dollar there aren’t many Malaysian cooks in the world who can claim to know how to make everything from roti canai to popiah from scratch (and pretty much every Malaysian street food in between), that people would pay good money to eat.

So, unless you have a death wish, don’t call me a food blogger 😉

Watch the replay of my live cooking lesson on how to make popiah >>

Popiah Garnishes for Assembly

INGREDIENTS:

Omelettes cut into thin strips, made from 4 eggs

½ cup prawns, peeled, deveined and poached (optional)

10 pieces of lettuce leaves

1 cup shredded cucumber

1 cup blanched beansprouts

½ cup fried shallots

⅓ cup crispy garlic granules (optional)

½ cup hoisin sauce

¼ cup bottled chilli sauce

Cooked yam bean filling (recipe below)

Popiah skin (recipe below)

METHOD:

  1. Place popiah skin on working surface; smear with hoisin and chilli sauce.
  2. Add a piece of lettuce followed by popiah filling and small amounts of all the other garnishes.
  3. Roll up like a fresh spring roll, then cut into 4 with a sharp knife. Transfer onto plate to serve.

Popiah Filling

INGREDIENTS:

1kg yam bean/sarkot/jicama/sengkuang, peeled and cut into thin strips

1 carrot, peeled and shredded
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 cups dried shrimp, soaked
2 Tbsps ground bean paste
1 Tbsp chicken stock granules

1 cup water
2 Tbsps sugar
½ tsp pepper
¼ cup fried onion
2 Tbsps oil

METHOD:

  1. Heat oil in deep saucepan.
  2. Add garlic and saute lightly.
  3. Add all other ingredients; simmer until yam bean is translucent and filling is a porridgy consistency.

Watch the close-up of how to make the popiah dough (with an earlier version of my recipe) >>

Popiah Skin

INGREDIENTS:

500g strong flour (eg. bread flour)

1 Tbsp tapioca starch

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

500ml water

METHOD:

  1. Combine ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon or dough mixer until ingredients are well-combined. Cover with a layer of cold water or with a plastic wrap for 4 hours.
  2. Tip out the water (if using), then using dough mixer on lowest setting, mix until you get a very rubbery dough.
  3. Tear off some of the dough with your hand. Smear on a non-stick heavy-based pan heated to between 80-100’C. Cook until the sides begin to lift off the pan; peel and set aside, covered with a towel.
  4. Repeat with rest of dough; make sure pan has cooled back down to between 80-100’C in between each wrapper.

 

 

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