Sweet popiah is made by wrapping sugar candy, grated coconut and black sesame seeds, with rice and wheat flour paper.
The treat is based on the Chinese fresh spring roll dish called popiah, which explains the Vietnamese pronunciation of ‘bo bia’.
Similar to Vietnamese fresh spring rolls, sweet popiah also involves using rice paper to wrap ingredients. Thin paper-like crepes, made of rice and wheat flour are used, while fillings include sugar candy, grated coconut and black sesame.
The candy is the dish’s defining ingredient, made by boiling white sugar with water, and then using stretching and folding methods to mould it into small, hollow and brittle cylinders.
Despite its cheap price and seemingly simple recipe, this dish can be very 'addicting'. Its soft yet firm outer layer highlights its crunchy insides, and you can feel its sweetness slowly seep through the filling as you bite and chew the tasty treat.
