Poh Piah

[Pan]

How many of you like poh piah? I do, when it's good. And it seems to be one of those international dishes that can be found in various Southeast Asian countries. Let's discuss different versions of it here.

One question to you all:

A few days ago, I went to a branch of Penang restaurant in New York's Chinatown (Elizabeth St. north of Canal), and was surprised to find what seemed like ground pork as one of the layers in the poh piah. I can't remember ever getting poh piah that had meat in it before; irrespective of the quality of the poh piah I had in that instance (poor, in large part because the ground meat had a soggy texture and didn't help the taste), have any of you had poh piah with meat in it?

[SuzySushi]

Have any of you had poh piah with meat in it?

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Sure!

[pinkpau]

I guess the beauty of poh piah is that you can have anything you want inside! The basic filling is the stewed turnip mixture but other than that, let your imagination go well!

[Tepee]

I'm a bit fussy about popiah...to me, size doesn't matter . It has to be tasty and not soggy if well-wrapped, the sauce shouldn't overwhelm, it should only enhance. IMO, the most important ingredient of a popiah is the shredded yam beans (with some shredded carrots), which make up the bulk of a popiah. It should be shredded more to the fine side and cooked until tender in flavorful stock fragranced with sauteed garlic and bean paste. I'm describing a nonya popiah, of course.

Below are ingredients you can usually find in popiah filling, plus or minus:

deep-fried dried shrimps

french beans

lettuce leaves

shredded cucumber

blanched beansprouts

steamed prawns

sliced omelette

beancurd in strips and fried

crispy deep-fried shallots

coriander

minced pork

finely sliced chinese sausages (lup cheong)

sweet sauce (tim jeong)

chilli sauce

Michael, are you sure the sogginess came from the meat (which should be well-drained in the first place) and not the shredded yam beans?

[Pan]

[...]Michael, are you sure the sogginess came from the meat (which should be well-drained in the first place) and not the shredded yam beans?

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I don't know, but the meat was soggy.

When I get poh piah in New York, it's usually mostly a mixture of some vegetables (cabbage, bean sprouts, and some of the others you mentioned) and fried eggs (yes, an empty omelette), sometimes with shrimps, and with fried shallots sprinkled on top of the sauce. I'm trying to remember whether I've ever gotten a version with strips of chicken in it.

You don't want to go to any Malaysian restaurants in New York.

[nycfoodie]

I've never had it with meat. In VN, it was always with jicama, chinese sausage, thin strips of omelette. I wonder if the meat version is like VNmese summer rolls with chicken breast. If I go to a VNmese restaurant that serves that, I know that the food has been Americanized.

[AzianBrewer]

[...]Michael, are you sure the sogginess came from the meat (which should be well-drained in the first place) and not the shredded yam beans?

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I don't know, but the meat was soggy.

When I get poh piah in New York, it's usually mostly a mixture of some vegetables (cabbage, bean sprouts, and some of the others you mentioned) and fried eggs (yes, an empty omelette), sometimes with shrimps, and with fried shallots sprinkled on top of the sauce. I'm trying to remember whether I've ever gotten a version with strips of chicken in it.

You don't want to go to any Malaysian restaurants in New York.

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You don't want to go to any Malaysian restaurants in New York.

Do you mean the Malaysian restaurants here in NYC suck?

[OnigiriFB]

I like poh piah too. The only time I remember our family including meat it was shredded pork. Been awhile though so I could be wrong.

[Pan]

You don't want to go to any Malaysian restaurants in New York.

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You don't want to go to any Malaysian restaurants in New York.

Do you mean the Malaysian restaurants here in NYC suck?

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Let's put it this way: I've never been to one in New York that was better than "boleh tahan" (so-so) at best, by comparison with an average-quality stall in KL. Yesterday, I had a meal at Oversea, on Canal near Orchard, and it was fine (=boleh tahan), so if they do it again next time, maybe that'll be a new (to me) contender. I wonder if their ownership knows the great Oversea chain in the KL area....But if we are to discuss this tangent in more depth, we should reconvene in the New York forum.

[AzianBrewer]

You don't want to go to any Malaysian restaurants in New York.

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You don't want to go to any Malaysian restaurants in New York.

Do you mean the Malaysian restaurants here in NYC suck?

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Let's put it this way: I've never been to one in New York that was better than "boleh tahan" (so-so) at best, by comparison with an average-quality stall in KL. Yesterday, I had a meal at Oversea, on Canal near Orchard, and it was fine (=boleh tahan), so if they do it again next time, maybe that'll be a new (to me) contender. I wonder if their ownership knows the great Oversea chain in the KL area....But if we are to discuss this tangent in more depth, we should reconvene in the New York forum.

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I think Nonya on Grand St is still pretty decent. But no Malaysian restaurants in NYC beat the street foods in KL, Penang and Ipoh.