Keepers of Popiah Making Tradition

 

Popiah runs deep in our family.

 

Growing up in the eighties, present generations of our family lived in the traditional shophouse at 95 Joochiat Road. Every morning, we watched our parents wake up as early as dawn to prepare the day's popiah dough and filling.

 

After school, our father would teach the boys various skills required to make paper-thin popiah skin. Countless gruelling lessons and failed attempts later, we will finally grasp the techniques of mixing, twisting, and swirling dough by hand until it was of the correct texture and thickness. Girls, on the other hand, learnt the art of preparing scrumptious Nonya-style popiah fillings from our mother, who is of Peranakan descent.

 

On festive seasons such as Qing Ming and Chinese New Year, the entire Quek clan would gather during what we call "Popiah Days" to prepare massive orders of our famous hand-made popiah rolls. Both our customers and us would then present the deliciously wrapped popiah as offerings to our ancestors.

Today, you would be hard-pressed to find another place in Singapore that makes popiah skin that is as soft, chewy, resilient yet paper-thin as those created from our time-honored hot pans. Staying rooted at our original address in Joochiat, we have been making popiah skin for over 80 years to date. For older Peranakans and long-time residents of Joo Chiat, Katong and East Coast -  Kway Guan Huat Joo Chiat Popiah is a name synonymous with the best popiah skin in Singapore.