We recently celebrated Kong Kong’s (Dan’s grandfather) birthday with a popiah party. So…what is popiah, and why do you need a party to have it?
Popiah are fresh spring rolls (usually made to order) common to Singapore, Malaysia and China. It requires a fair bit of preparation (chopping, slicing, dicing, mincing, grounding) to get the indivudal elements together, and I must humbly thank Auntie Jenny for all her hard work prior to us turning up. I promise to help next time!
Then its a matter of putting it all together. Popiah should be consumed à la minute, so generally having a lot of people on hand (a party for example) is the perfect vehicle to enjoy this regional speciality.
To start with, the wrappers. Popiah skin is generally just a super thin wheat crepe – kind of like spring roll pastry. They are kept pliable by wrapping into individual triangles and storing them in a damp tea towel.
Then we have a few toppings, sprinkles, smears and sauces; thin slices of lap cheong (Chinese sausage), chilli paste (yes, it was VERY hot), dried scrambled egg, garlic paste, ground peanuts and dark, sweet, hoisin sauce.
Then to some of the fresher ingredients; small sweet prawns, sliced cucumber, crunchy beanshoots, coriander leaves and crisp leaves of Cos lettuce.
Then the warm ingredients – a sauted mixture of sliced cabbage, green beans, carrot, onion and gourd/melon. This was kept warm in a nifty little heated pot.
To prepare, lay out the popiah skin diagonally on the plate. Smear the hoisin, chilli (as much as you can take – obviously, I can’t take much 
), and garlic paste. Then on the bottom corner start with the cos lettuce leaf, which ensures the integrity of the popiah skin when it comes time to roll. Without the lettuce, the skin may get soggy and tear. Then you start piling up, starting with the warm vegetables, lap cheong, prawns, cucumber, beansprouts, coriander, ground peanuts, egg…oooh, it’s getting full!
Then with a deft and tight hand (not too tight though), roll that generously plump little package up. This here my friends is my first ever popiah. Not too bad, huh?
All I can say is that I’m looking forward to more popiah parties as these things are awesome! They have texture, taste, freshness and lip-smackedness/fingerlickedness to them. You can not stop at one. In fact, I managed five!
Hi Tummyrumbles…woah, am actually sweating it out in Singapore at the moment. Have had popiah twice from hawker stalls at only a few cents for each roll! Yum. The local version doesn’t have as much variety of filling as your home-rolled popiah, mainly a shredded carrot, jicama bean and dried shrimp stir-fried mixture plus ground peanut and a generous smear of volcanic chilli paste! Aside from that, have been in hawker food heaven
Not in hurry to get back to cold Melbourne but time ticking 
this is making me homesick! I should attempt to have a popiah party as well!
Yum! What a great way to entertain. I also love the idea of a steamboat party. Have you ever done that?
Hey there Towser – oh gawd, I’m so jealous. You’re in S’pore?! Mmm…what I would give for proper kaya toast or chicken rice right now!
Hey Penny – yes..let’s start having popiah parties all over Melbourne
Hiya Mish – I just love interactive food, where everyone has a hand in the preparation, such as yakiniku or Korean BBQ, or steamboat. The Italian side of me (my heritage), loves getting together with the girls to make pasta/gnocchi, whilst the Singaporean/Hokkien side of me (care of my fiance’s heritage) is giving me a real appreciation of some new delights, such as the popiah, or steamboat, and Chinese New Year feast traditions. I just love how food brings us together
Where did they get the popiah wrappers from? Was it fresh or frozen? We used to have popiah gatherings every year when my grandmother was alive, with fresh popiah wrappers ordered from a lady who makes them. But ever since I moved to Melbourne, I haven’t tasted popiah… and I don’t have the guts to try making it with the frozen wrappers.
popiah are one of my favourite meals to create with my family!
we use regular spring roll pastry..the small size, not the huge ones and they work (and taste) perfectly fine!
we usually have the egg omlette, lap cheung, hoisin sauce, peanuts and the warm cabbage/carrots/beans mix and it still tastes delicious!
so glad you did a post on this…everyone should seriously try this out! too bad there are no restaurants that have this (not to my knowledge…), but i suppose its a family affair – preparing the ingredients and eating it altogether around a big table!
Wow what a fabulous idea for a party! The beauty of home made popiah is that you can put whatever you want inside and with so many people, you can have tons of ingredients! We too use frozen raw spring skin for our popiahs. I am yet to find the real popiah skins available in Melbourne.
P.S. Thanks heaps for adding me to your blog list! Much appreciated!
Thanks so much for the inspiration!
I had popiah numerous times in Malacca and they were some of the highlights of my entire Malaysia visit on that occasion.
Soooooo delicious!
Marcus