Spring rolls (popia goreng)

 I would say appetisers and savouries are very important in our Malaysia cuisine. We are bless with abundance of yummy appetisers and snacks  here. People love these kuih sold on streets,pasar malam,serve d at parties,at gatherings or just eaten between meals during minum petang.Popia goreng (Spring rolls ) is among my favourite snacks from pasar malam.But if our taste buds hungry of popia basah (fresh spring rolls), Mr  Daddy will drive to Bangsar to buy them from none other than Ayub.

Why bother to make one here in Kuala Lumpur while I just can buy  cheaply from the stall ? Well.. I just wanted to go down the memory lane..when we were Down Under or Not So Far lalaLand. Nak makan kena buat sendiri lah. Then I found that there are 4 types of Spring rolls skin (kulit popia).  Down under I found  them sold in packets labels as Dried rice paper in (81/2 inch in diamter-- that required dipping them one at a time in warm water for a few second to soften), also I can buy similar kind of  ready to use  kulit popia  here ( in a pack)  from Woolies , some Indonesia  Restaurant ( still remember Sari Ratu Kensington? )or order some from Phad tit Thad  Thai restaurant in Bondai Beach.

Couldn't recall one from Adelaide, because I had not discover the pleasure of playing with pots and pans yet.And was blessed with house mate who loves cooking. You know who your are :D . Even now I still miss her Mee Kuah Ubi and sometimes  invited my self to her place and indulged in what ever she cook that day.Sedap abis!!. My hubby once asked her  to explain slowly,step by step how she cook  Kuzi and nasi tomato recipes as if dia yang nak balik masak.

In Bangkok  I found 2 more varities. Both are freshly made, one is thicker and bigger in size look like unsliced  Kew teo rolls and the other one is freshly made on the big round hot plate similar to fresh popia skin here,rice-paper wrapping pliable and tranparent .


I'l share with you  my popia version using fresh spring roll skin ,easier to work with.

We need
1 pack Popia skin 10 pieces ( fresh spring roll skin)
Cooking oil for deep frying

Filling ( use you own combination of veges and protien- meat/ chicken, beef/ prawn)

1 snake bean- thin slice--optional
1 carrot-shredded
100g taugeh ( bean sprout)
100g  (combination  prawn,chicken)-minced
1 firm tofu-minced
2 tbsp shredded  raddish - simmer in water for 5 minutes,drain before add to mixture
1 hard boild egg -mash coarsely
50g dried shrimp- soak, chopped
2 garlic minced
1/2 cup mug bean noodle - Soon- soak in hot water until tender,cut to short length.
salt to taste

sauce (up to your liking)
1.Ligham chilli saucce or
2. Thai chili sauce in bottle or make from scratch

clear sauce ala Thai

2 tbsp sugar
half cup cold water
2 tbsp thai fish sauce (nam pla)
1 tbsp lime juice or white vineger
red and green "eye birds" chilies- a few . seeded and  finely sliced

Sealing mixture (flour paste)
4 tbsp plain flour
4 tbsp water

Method

1.to make clear sauce
mix sugar with cold water in a bowl,stir until all sugar dissolves then add in the remaining ingredients for sauce.

2. make the filling
Fry the onion until fregrent, add in chopped dried prawn, protein, keep on stirring until opaque colour or cooked. Off the flame.add in all the remaining ingredients. sprinkle salt to taste. Scoop the mixture into  a large sieve  to drain any liquid.

3.Peel the spring roll skin from the batch,Place 1 teaspoon of mug bean noodle and 1 teaspoon of filling mixture 1 inch from the edge of the spring roll skin.Roll  the edge over the filling, fold up both ends of the wrapper,and continue to roll to the end.

4.Seal the end with a little of flour-paste mixture.The roll should be compact and tight ,like a short thick cigar.Repeat the process until all done.

5.  Deep frying-Heat up a wok on high heat,add in oil, then turn heat to medium and deep fry them until golden brown. fry only a few at a time.Drain them on kitchen paper. serve warm. with dipping sauce.

 Aroi mak-mak.Sedap :D.. cuba lah sendiri.