← Nouns Cooking · Malaysian & Singaporean

Ingredients

• 800 g Jicama (củ sắn), peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
• 1 Carrot, cut into thin matchsticks
• 3 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 4 cloves Garlic, chopped
• 2 tbsp Soy sauce
• 1 tsp Sugar
• ½ tsp Salt
• 100 ml Water
• 150 g Prawns (shrimp), peeled and chopped (optional)
• 16 Fresh popiah skins (thin spring roll wrappers)
• 8 lettuce leaves, halved
• 200 g Bean sprouts, blanched 30 seconds and drained
• 3 Eggs, made into thin omelettes and shredded
• 150 g firm tofu, cut into strips and fried golden
• 80 g roasted peanuts, crushed with 1 tbsp sugar
• 4 tbsp sweet sauce (hoisin or tim cheong)
• 2 tbsp chilli paste
• 4 cloves garlic, pounded to a paste (optional)
• 3 tbsp Crispy fried shallots

Method

1. Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat and fry the garlic for 30 seconds until golden. Add the prawns, if using, and fry for 1 minute.
2. Add the jicama, carrot, soy sauce, sugar, salt and water. Cover and braise for 15–20 min, stirring now and then, until the jicama is soft and has turned pale brown and sweet. Tip into a sieve set over a bowl so the filling drains well.
3. Set out all the fillings in bowls. Lay a popiah skin on a board and spread a little sweet sauce, chilli paste and garlic paste in a strip across the lower third.
4. Lay half a lettuce leaf on the sauce, then add a spoon of bean sprouts, a heaped spoon of drained jicama, some tofu, egg, peanuts and fried shallots.
5. Fold the bottom edge over the filling, tuck in the sides and roll up firmly. Slice into 4 pieces and eat straight away, before the skin goes soggy.

Tips

• Drain the jicama filling well; a dry filling is the secret to popiah that does not burst. The lettuce leaf also acts as a shield.
• Contains peanuts, wheat (skins), egg and soy. Add the prawns and it is no longer vegetarian.
• Shop-bought chilli paste or sambal often contains belacan (shrimp paste); for vegetarians use a belacan-free chilli paste or blended fresh chillies.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Huang Kitchen What To Cook Today The Meatmen