Better than expected…

I went back to the food court but of course, I did not get my hopes up too high. I did not think there would be any kueh pai tee at the stall there and I was right. I wish they would remove that photograph on display at their stall if they have no intention whatsoever of selling it or at least, they should put up a NOT AVAILABLE sticker on it and remove it on those very rare occasions when they actually do have it for sale.

I was not in the mood for anything heavy, no noodle dishes for me, thank you very much and I thought that since I was there already, I might as well give their nyonya egg skin popiah…

…a try.

You can read up on the nyonya popiah egg skin online and this one says, “First of all, the popiah skin is different. For the ones that you find at food centres, the skin is made from flour and water. The nonya popiah skin is an egg skin; meaning, we add egg into our skin batter, which transforms the texture and taste of the skin. The skin is so good you can eat it on its own.“

This one comes from somebody sharing her grandma’s recipes, “Poh Piah is one of my absolute favourite dishes. I grew up eating it with springy egg skin, instead of the papery white wrapper. It’s hard to find egg skins these days. Grandma taught me to make the egg skins and when I was in my teens (a very long time ago!), I got to practise on the few occasions we held poh piah parties at home. It takes a lot of patience standing around the hot stove, making them one by one in a pan just like you would crepes. The thinner the skin, the better.“

Gee!!! I didn’t know all these and all this while, I thought what we’ve been making is nyonya-style popiah! I was half-expecting the skin to be something like that of kuih ketayap/dadar gulung or what we call kuih lenggang here but no, it…

…is not the same. It is almost…and I mean, almost like fresh popiah skin but no, it is not exactly like it, not so dry and perhaps, not so paper thin either. Having said that, I was glad to find that it was not chewy or rubbery unlike some of the frozen ones or even the fresh ones and there was no offensive flour smell. All in all, I did think it was pretty good, a whole lot better than expected.

This is RM3.00 each but throw in just 50 sen more and you will get prawns…

…in the filling.

Generally, the filling is like the shredded sengkuang/mangkuang stewed in oyster sauce till nice and mushy in the popiah that I used to buy at the stall right outside Popular Book Store in Jalan Petaling a long long time ago – everytime I was in the vicinity, I would surely stop there for one or perhaps two of the very nice wrapped-on-the-spot spring rolls.

With my request for it to be extra spicy…

…there was a hint of the spiciness but I think I can handle a lot more than that.

I must say that I really enjoyed it and no, they will not make the skin for sale…and be forewarned that this is best eaten there. If you buy it home, the heat from the filling inside will moisturise the air in the container, making it wet and that will render the skin soft and soggy – it will not be nice anymore, after that.

玛莉娘惹料理 MARY’S NYONYA CUISINE is located at the GRAND WONDERFUL FOOD COURT (2.309601, 111.845163) along Jalan Pipit, off Jalan Dr Wong Soon Kai, on your left just before the Petronas petrol station a short distance from Delta Mall. You can also go in via Lorong Pipit 4, turning left into the lane at the junction where Starbucks Sibu is located and go straight ahead from there.