White Spring Rolls Recipe (Poh Piah)

Hokkien Specialty for Cheng Beng

Ingredients

Main:
680 g/1 1/2 lb

Filling:
455 g/1 lb
570 ml/20 fl oz

455 g/1 lb
570 ml/20 fl oz
1.35 kg/3 lb
455 g/1 lb
6



3 tbsp
2 tsp
2 tsp
1 tsp

Garnish:
1.35 g/3 lb
4
225 g/8 oz
225 g/8 oz

1

115 g/4 oz
3

3 tbsp
20
2 tbsp

Condiments:
15
15 cloves
115 g/4 oz

white spring roll skins

belly pork without skin
water for pork
pinch of salt
prawns
water for prawns
sweet turnip or yam bean
French beans
semi-hard bean curds
a little oil for sauté
a little garlic for sauté
pinch of salt for sauté
cooking oil
pounded garlic from condiments
brown soya bean paste
salt

mud crab
Chinese waxed sausages
local lettuce or butter lettuce
bean sprouts
pinch of salt
cucumber
coriander leaves
roasted groundnuts
eggs
pinch of salt
cooking oil for eggs
shallots
cooking oil for shallots


fresh chillies
garlic
sweet red sauce or hoi sin sauce

Method

For main:

1. Peel out skin from stack, one at a time, and fold into 4. Stack again and cover with a damp cloth until required.

For Filling:

1. Boil belly pork in 570 ml( 20 fl oz) water and pinch of salt until cooked. Remove and shred finely. Put aside pork and pork stock.

2. Peel and devein prawns. Prepare 570 ml (20 fl oz) prawn stock. Pour prawn stock into pork stock. Chop finely prawns and put aside.

3. Shred finely sweet turnip

4. Slice finely French beans slantwise.

5. Shred semi-hard bean curds finely. Sauté with a little garlic and a pinch of salt until dry. Put aside.

6. Heat oil, lower fire and fry 2 tbsp pounded garlic taken from condiments. Add brown soya bean paste and stir until fragrant. Add sweet turnip, French beans, salt and a little pork/prawn stock. Keep on stir-frying and adding stock, a little at a time. Add sautéed semi-hard bean curds and mix thoroughly. Lower fire to the minimum and allow to simmer until there is a layer of oil on surface.

For garnish:

1. Boil crab for 15 minutes and pick out crabmeat.

2. Steam sausages until soft and slice thinly slantwise.

3. Peel lettuce, leaf by leaf, and soak in cold water. Drain when required.

4. Nip roots of bean sprouts. Blanch with a pinch of salt. Drain.

5. Cut cucumber into 4 lengthwise. Discard centre pulp. Cut into strips 10 cm (4 in) long and width of chopstick. Soak in cold water. Drain when required.

6. Nip coriander leaves into shorter lengths.

7. Grind finely roasted groundnuts.

8. Beat eggs. Add a pinch of salt. Heat oil and fry as many thin omelets as possible. Cut finely into strips.

9. Prepare shallot oil. Use only dry fried shallots.

For condiments:

1. Seed chilies and grind or pound until smooth.

2. Grind or pound garlic into smooth pulp.

3. Pour from bottle sweet red sauce or hoi sin sauce.

For serving:

1. Place 1 spring roll skin on plate and use cucumber to spread desired condiments around top rim.

2. Place 1 lettuce leaf in centre and spread 2 tbsp filling, without gravy, on it. From elongated shape.

3. garnish as desired on top of filling.

4. Fold in sides and wrap bottom edge tightly over filling to form spring roll. Cut into 4. it can be eaten with or without gravy over spring roll.