Fried spring roll, known in its more recognised name as popiah, is a famous light dish among the Chinese community. Spread across Southeast Asia, almost every country has its interpretation in making popiah.The crispiness of the fried spring roll’s skin and the juiciness of its filling are reasons for its dominance as Chinese cuisine.
The fill can be purely vegetables or meat or simply a mixture of both. Spring rolls are believed to originate from the Eastern Jin Dynasty in China. It is made primarily for the celebration of people’s annual Spring Festival. Hence the word spring is used in the naming of this food. This annual custom also appears in the era’s many poems.
Today, fried spring rolls are usually served as an appetiser complementary to our main course. It comes along with many types of dipping sauce, but of course, the making of the spring roll itself is the most important.
Ingredients (3 Servings):
- 20 pieces of 5-inch popiah (spring roll) skin
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 shredded jicama
- 1 shredded carrot
- 6 chopped long beans
- 1 tbsp salt (seasoning, add till desired taste suffice)
- 1 tbsp sugar (seasoning, add till desired taste suffice)
- 2 tbsp cornflour (mix with 2 tbsp water)
Directions:
- Heat up the cooking oil in a wok and add minced garlic. Stir fry evenly until fragrant.
- Add shredded jicama, carrot and chopped long beans. Stir fry until they become soft.
- Add in seasoning ingredients. Continue to stir fry and adjust the seasoning until desired taste.
- Add in the mixed cornflour solution. Stir fry the entire wok. Cast aside to allow cooling.
- Assemble the spring roll. Lay a popiah skin on a clean cutting board. Put 1 ½ tbsp of filling from the previous step. Fold the corner facing you upwards and roll up the skin tightly to its final form. Repeat this step with the rest of the popiah skin.
- Heat up some cooking oil in a wok. Deep fry the spring rolls till golden brown.
- Drain excess oil of spring rolls on paper towels.
- Serve the spring rolls with chilli sauce or sesame sauce.
Notes: Lingham’s hot sauce or Thai sweet chilli sauce is recommended. Wrap the popiah skin in a double layer to acquire that extra crunchiness.
