Dishes
Taiwanese spring roll (run-bing)
潤餅
Also called: 春捲 · jūn-piánn · popiah · 潤餅捲
A thin wheat crêpe wrapped around vegetables, egg and peanut powder, eaten fresh.
What it is
A paper-thin wheat crêpe rolled around spring vegetables, meat and shredded omelette. In southern Taiwan the fillings are blanched without seasoning and the flavour comes mainly from sugar and peanut powder. Common fillings include cabbage, bean sprouts, sausage, dried tofu and egg.
Where it comes from
Wikipedia traces popiah to Fujian (Quanzhou, Xiamen and Zhangzhou) and Chaoshan, dating it to the 17th century, and says Hoklo migrants carried it to Taiwan. In Taiwan it is traditionally eaten at Qingming, the tomb-sweeping festival.
How it is made
The wrapper is made by rubbing a ball of very wet dough across a hot steel plate so a thin layer sticks and cooks, then peeling it off. San Dai in Kaohsiung lays a small extra piece of wrapper inside so the juices do not break through.
How to eat it
Eat it as soon as it is rolled. At San Dai you can choose full, half or less sugar in the peanut powder.
In Kaohsiung
San Dai, by Formosa Boulevard station in Kaohsiung, has been rolling spring rolls for more than 60 years in the southern sweet style.
Where to eat it in Kaohsiung
Sources