Poh Piah that Speaks of Home

Some dishes are more than food. Michelle Liew

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Some dishes are more than food---they are nostalgic culinary stories, intricately threaded and flavoured with love. 

The Peranakans are ethnic Chinese not born in China, but in the areas around the Straits of Malacca and Indonesia. They have, over many decades, crafted dishes with a blend of Chinese wisdom and Straits charm. One of them is Poh Piah, spring rolls with an omelette wrap that hold together lettuce, turnip, chilli, cucumber and my gran’s killer ingredient—crab.

One of these is spring rolls—not the Chinese spring rolls we’re familiar with, but rolls that are an integral part of Peranakan culture.

It is a binding agent for my Peranakan family. These rolls  triggered nostalgia and peals of familial laughter. We used to compete over how many of these we could down in one sitting.

I realised that the dish was the perfect binding agent. There were few disagreements when my gran prepared it—everyone forgot their trivial quarrels and came together just to eat.

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These spring rolls are sensory teasers. Their aroma alone transports me—warm and familiar. It comforts and embraces.

The whiff of the egg omelette awakens the nostrils at once. The scent of cooked turnip delights the nostrils and arouses hunger pangs one looks forward to answering. And the chilli? An aromatic treat that titillates the tastebuds.

Combined, these ingredients are truly the flavour of home. They don’t just remind me of my grandmother — they ARE my grandmother. No one could replicate the egg skins she prepared with precision and care. The turnip? Only she knew exactly what the difference was between that and the turnip in the other spring rolls.

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Each bite of Poh Piah carries a piece of history, a thread of our ancestors. These omelette spring roll wraps were my great-grandmother’s familial gift—one that my grandmother claimed when she was a young wife.

My great-grandmother taught her daughter everything there was to know about the kitchen, and every ingredient available for cooking.

Traditional Peranakan dishes like Mee Siam (Vermicelli layered with a sweet and spicy sauce), Pongteh (braised pork and mushrooms) and Sri Kaya (egg jam layered on coconut rice) were in the recipe repertoire my great grandmother introduced, and my grandmother continued to present them for her.

Chinese immigrants who arrived in the Straits of Malaya married Malay women in the century, creating a fusion of Malay and Chinese cultures. Other Chinese immigrants simply fused Malay customs and patois with their own. All this resulted in the Peranakan Culture—Straits Born Chinese who offered a different take on Chinese fare.

Poh Piah wasn’t just for the stomach—the rolls were an education in patience and detail. Putting each together required time and effort, and that stressed the luxury of eating them. Wrapping each took consummate skill—we had to beware when it was too full or too empty. Yes,the right balance was key.

My grandmother used to cater this dish for friends’ parties and my grandfather’s colleagues. As she transited into her lively eighties, she prepared the dish on a smaller scale. We looked forward to festive occasions when she would offer this dish at “Poh Piah” parties.

Ideal for communal eating, my grandaunts enjoyed immensely.

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With each carefully wrapped Poh Piah, my grandmother shared more than a recipe--she shared a legacy and herself.I share it with you today. It involves quite intense preparation, so do set aside the time needed!

Preparing the Prawn Stock

Preparing prawn stock itself is not a difficult endeavour. It involves collecting prawn heads and boiling them until they emit a delicious stock. After throwing the heads away, my grandmother would combine the rest of the stock with the ingredients and boil them together. Vegetarians can enjoy this dish too--they can substitute it with light soya sauce, rock sugar, water and dark soya sauce.

Preparing the Poh Piah (Egg Omelette) Wrap

The wrap for this dish is a batter of plain flour, tapioca flour, and eggs requires a mini recipe. 20 pieces of skin feed a family of 6, and includes these ingredients:

1. 6 ladles of plain flour

2. 3 ladles of tapioca flour

3. 6 eggs

One can adjust the ingredients to a 2:1:2 ratio. To prepare the skin for a couple, use two ladles of plain flour, 2 eggs and a ladle of tapioca flour.

Preparing the Batter

1. Combine the above ingredients, using clean hands.

2. Add a small bowl of water until you a consistent mixture.

3. Add oil to a medium-sized frying pan. Pour in a 3/4 ladle of the mixture.

4. The skin should dislodge when done.

5. Prepare 2 flat plates. Transfer the newly cooked skin onto the first plate. This first plate should have only one newly cooked egg wrap at a time, lest the batter sticks together.

3.Transfer the newly cooked skin from the frying pan onto the first plate. Ensure that there is only one piece of skin on this plate at a time, so that the fresh wraps do not stick together.

4.While waiting for a new wrap to cook in the frying pan, transfer the wrap from the first plate to the second. By this time, it would have cooled enough to pile other wraps on top.

5. Repeat the process.

Ingredients for the Poh Piah fIlling

1. 2 pieces of bean curd, sliced.

2.A kilogram of prawn stock (refer to the earlier recipe for boiling

prawn stock)

3. 10 cloves of garlic, minced.

4. 3 big turnips, finely sliced.

5. A can of bamboo shoots, finely sliced.

6. Half a kilogram of prawns, boiled together with the rest of the ingredients.

Garnishing

These ingredients add oomph to these spring rolls and turn it into a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach. Their number depends on personal taste and includes:

1. Finely sliced cucumber

2. Bean Sprouts.

3. Lettuce leaves

4. Minced garlic

5. Parsley

6. Fried garlic

7. Fresh chili, ground

8. Boiled praws

9. Omelette, fried and sliced. 

Preparing the ingredients for the Poh Piah

1.Boil the prawn stock

2.Fry the bean curd till brown, and put it aside.

3.Fry the brown salted beans and garlic.

4.Add the bamboo shoots and turnips. Stir the mixture.

5.Add the prawn stock and boil the mixture for around 20 

    minutes

6. Add the fried bean curd and stir the mixture.

7.Add the prawns when the bamboo shoots and turnips have softened. 

8.Stir the mixture and bring it to a boil

9.Grind the fresh chilies and garlic in a processor.

10.Fry a plain omelette for garnishing

11.Fry garlic for the same purpose. 

How to Roll a Poh Piah

This makes a whimsical family challenge. My family members used to compete over who could roll the biggest Poh Piah without breaking the skin. Take it up if you're ready.

1.Lay the skin on a flat plate. Make sure that the plate is clean.

2. Add lettuce leaves.

3.Add sweet black sauce.

4.Add fresh ground chili.

5.Add cooked ingredients.

6.Add garnishes.

7.Fold the Poh Piah skin on both sides, right and left, over all these ingredients. You should still see some in the middle. 

8.Fold the bottom layer over the ingredients. 

9. Roll it!

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Poh Piah isn't just food, it's a connection with family, a heartwarming reminder that they're never far away. 

My grandmother's sadly deceased, but the recipe survives, continuing to craft countless shared memories. 

Try this and make it a taste of your home. 

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This work is NOT AI-generated or copied from any source. The presence of any AI Tags is coincidental.