Nonya Vegetable Recipes - Nonya Popiah

Nonya Vegetable Recipes - Nonya Popiah or Nonya Egg Rolls

Nonya Vegetable Recipes - Nonya Popiah or Nonya Egg Rolls a very special and satisfying Nonya dish. The skin of the roll is made of eggs and flour, similar to a heavy crepe. The roll is then filled with finely shredded vegetables, bits of cooked prawns, tofu and pork and garnished with lettuce leaf, fresh bean sprouts, lup cheong (Chinese sausage), freshly pounded chilli, garlic and sweet thick black sauce.

Nonya Popiah or Nonya Egg Rolls Filling Ingredients:
600 gm chicken meat or belly pork, cut into thin strips
1 teaspoon salt
600 gm small prawns, shelled (shells reserved for stock)
1 teaspoon salt
9 cups water
7 tablespoons oil
3 whole pods garlic, minced
5 tablespoons preserved soy beans, ground lightly
2 kg turnip, shredded
3 cans (552 gm) bamboo shoots, drained and shredded
10 firm soybean cakes, cut into strips and fried
1 teaspoon salt

Nonya Popiah or Nonya Egg Rolls Garnishing Ingredients:
2 heads lettuce
20 red chillies, ground
3 whole pods garlic, ground
black sweet sauce
600 gm beansprouts, tailed and scalded
1 large cucumber, shredded finely
300 gm small prawns, shelled and steamed
4 medium crabs, steamed and meat extracted
300 gm roasted peanuts, ground
300 gm shallots, sliced and fried crisp

Made into thin omelettes and sliced finely:
5 eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Make smooth egg Popiah skins:
Egg Skin
10 eggs
8½ cups water
600 gm flour
½ teaspoon salt

Note: To make smooth egg skins, pan has to be just hot to set skin. If it is too hot skin will turn out perforated.

Nonya Popiah or Nonya Egg Rolls Filling Step by Step:
1. Season meat with salt and leave aside. Season prawns with salt and leave aside.

2. Boil prawn shells in water for 5-10 minutes. Strain.

3. Heat oil in a kuali and lightly brown garlic. Add preserved soy beans and fry until fragrant. Pour in prawn stock and when it comes to a boil add turnip and bamboo shoots. When it starts to boil again add meat. Simmer gently for 1½ hours or transfer to a pressure cooker and pressure cook for 30 minutes. Add soybean cakes, prawns and salt to taste and simmer for another 10 minutes.

4. This filling may be prepared a day early, kept refrigerated and reheated before use.

Nonya Popiah or Nonya Egg Rolls Garnishing Step by Step:
Prepare garnishing ingredients while cooking filling. To cut preparation time, crabmeat can be extracted a day ahead and frozen. Roasted ground peanuts and shallot crisps can also be prepared well ahead and kept in airtight containers.

Nonya Popiah or Nonya Egg Rolls Popiah Egg Skin Step by Step:
1. Lightly beat eggs with a fork and gradually stir in water. Sift flour into a bowl and add egg mixture gradually together with salt. Blend well and strain mixture to remove lumps. Leave for 20 minutes.

2. Lightly grease a 25 cm non-stick pan with a brush. Heat. Pour a ladleful of batter (about 3 tablespoons) or enough to spread over base of pan thinly, and cook over very low heat for 2 minutes or until pancake leaves side of pan. Remove and place on a flat dish. Repeat process and stack egg skins until batter is used up.

3. To serve Popiah, put an egg skin on a plate. Place a piece of lettuce on the edge. Spread with as much fresh ground chilli, ground garlic, black sweet sauce, beansprouts and cucumber as desired. Place 2 tablespoons of filling, drained of gravy, on top, then add a few steamed prawns, omelette strips and crabmeat. Sprinkle a little roasted ground peanuts and shallot crisps on top. Wrap and carefully roll up like a swiss roll.