The Popiah invasion

Growing up, I've never really like popiah. These spring rolls are usually stuffed with sengkuang or Chinese turnip that has been braised for sometime until soft, deep fried shrimp, julienne cucumber and maybe scrambled egg. This really does depend on the location though. The only thing that I like about them is the skin. My father would order them in Ipoh and I'd go, "can I eat only the skin?" and he'd say that I am missing out on the best part =|

In the past year, popiah has been making its round into my meals/snacks, (no) thanks to tk. He would usually takeaway two boxes from the night market and it piqued my curiosity. Thus, this post is dedicated to my adventures with the humble but ever present Chinese spring roll.

The very first spring roll that I tried wasn't the traditional version. As they were having a deal on GroupOn, I snapped up the voucher to see what the fuss was about as a friend kept commenting on how delicious Seaweed Club is. Turns out that she was quite right :D

As they are made to order, it ensures that the seaweed is crispy and the ingredients are fresh too. One thing I didn't quite like is how soggy it was on the inside.

My next stop was at Sun Yin Loong at Aman Suria. This place is actually famous for their white coffee which originated from Ipoh. Few times that I bought the coffee (both hot and cold version), they were a little bitter with creamy texture. Certainly not the sort of local coffee I am accustomed to. One thing for sure though, the caffeine really does a good job as I couldn't sleep on the day I had two of them. Shut eye probably came about 3hours later of tossing and turning.

This particular stall is manned by a single Filipino lady. Not sure if she's not married but she is usually the only one there so you may have to wait  abit if there's someone before you since everything is assembled fresh.

The popiah skin is rolled out flat first. This needs to be done gently so as not to break the skin.

Top it with the julienne carrot, cucumber and turnip. I like it how they use them raw instead of braised in some liquid like the typical popiah.

Douse it with some mayo so that it isn't too dry. She does this well because by the time I got home, the spring rolls were still crispy and the filling was just moist enough.

Add some chicken floss for protein and savory flavor.

The whole thing is now rolled up. For the seaweed version, she places the seaweed sheet below and rolls it over before slicing up the roll.

The skin isn't too thick and the seaweed is a good compliment to all the greens inside.

The filling itself wasn't soggy and each bite is refreshing. Quite a healthy snack (mayo was just a dash or two and it's OK). For two rolls, it was less than RM5.

The stall also does offer the standard spring roll sans seaweed and more traditional filling.

Instead of mayo, you get the usual sweet sauce but again, she does a good job of not over killing the roll into a soggy mess. The other thing I like is the crunchy deep fried bits with the raw turnip. It's about the same price as the seaweed version but you can buy this in single roll for RM 2.30.