This vegetable Taiwanese Spring Roll (Run Bing, 潤餅) or Popiah is packed with delicious sautéed vegetables and wrapped in a soft and chewy homemade wrapper.
Run Bing or Popiah is similar to Lumpia wrapper. It’s made from just a few simple pantry ingredients: flour, water, salt. With the right ratio, you’ll have a soft and chewy wrapper in no time. It can be served fresh, steamed, or fried.
Popiah is my favorite night market food growing up in Malaysia. The filling has flavorful braised jicama, crispy ingredients, tofu, and is wrapped in a giant spring roll. In today’s recipe, I was inspired by the Taiwanese version that is filled with sautéed vegetables for a simple and delicious meal.
The traditional way of making Run Bing (Popiah)
When I came to the US, finding this meal was nearly impossible until I went to my temple where they have a food fair each year. I saw a stall that made this Run Bing wrapper the same way I knew growing up.
The volunteer grabs a big blob of batter with her palm, gives it a swirl so the dripping will stick to the ‘dough’, and rubs in a circular motion on a warm cast-iron pan. Within seconds, the crepe is ready and passed onto another volunteer to fill it will vegetables and other toppings.
Then, it’s wrapped into a large spring roll as big as a burrito. When I had it in my hand, I couldn’t wait to take a big bite. It’s messy but so good! It immediately brought me back to Malaysia.
I was lucky to have met another uncle who made this for fun and sells it on weekends. I am his long-time customer for more than 10 years. He told me he went back to Taiwan to learn how to make this crepe and practiced so many times before he decided to sell it. The key is cold water. So, with his advice and all the inspiration from YouTube videos, I decided to try it out myself.
In today’s recipe, instead of sharing the wiping method as mentioned above, all you need is a basting brush and a pan. It does take a few tries to get a hang of the heat to create the wrapper but it’s totally worth it!
How to make Taiwanese Run Bing (Popiah)
Mix the bread flour and a pinch of salt in a large mixing bowl until well-combined.
Now, fit your mixer with a dough hook. In the flour bowl from earlier, add in the water and ice cubes. Turn on the mixer and stir until no lumps in the batter. Set it aside for 20 minutes or refrigerate until ready to use.
Cook the Run Bing (Popiah)
If you want to skip this step, feel free to use the Lumpia wrapper. It’s normally at the frozen section of major Asian grocery stores.
Warm a 12-inch non-stick pan, then turn off the heat. Brush the pan with a thin layer of oil.
Dip a basting brush in the batter and swipe the batter on the pan to create a circle wrapper.
Cover the pan completely with the batter. Then, turn on the heat.
Cook the wrapper over medium-low heat. The wrapper will slowly turn from matte white to translucent. Once the side starts to detach, turn off the heat.
Before After
Lift the wrapper from the side. It should lift up easily. Then, continue until all the batter is done. The recipe should make about 10 to 11 12-inch wrapper.
Prepare the fillings
The fillings are really flexible and since I’ve shared a version of Malaysian Popiah before, today, I’m using all the vegetables that I have in the fridge. It’s simply a cabbage, kabocha squash, and tofu stir-fry mix.
Note: Allow the filling to cool down completely.
How to assemble
Lay a wrapper on a chopping board.
Add a drizzle of hoisin sauce and chili sauce in the middle of the wrapper.
Top with 2 spoonfuls of filling and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.
Bring the sides to the middle. Then, take the bottom edge of the wrapper and fold over the filling.
Roll it up into a large spring roll. Serve immediately.
Other Run Bing (Popiah) filling ingredients
The filling ingredients possibilities are endless. Here are some of the variations that I grew up with:
My favorite night market food is Malaysian Popiah. The fillings include braised jicama, julienned cucumber, lettuce, crispy shallots, crispy crackers, and scrambled tofu or sautéed green beans. The usual sauces in the roll are sweet bean sauce and chili sauce. This is the most common dinner that my mama likes to make for us using the fresh wrapper she got from the market.
There is a second version of Popiah in Malaysia that is getting more popular. It’s filled with nori seaweed, julienned raw jicama, cucumber, carrot, and sprinkles of wheat floss. The typical sauce is mayo. This can be easily veganized with vegan mayo and vegan wheat floss.
Taiwanese Run Bing has the most variations of filling. This recipe is similar to this with the addition of kabocha squash and I skipped the peanut powder. The typical ingredients for Run Bing include sautéed cabbage, celery, and mung bean sprouts. Usually, these ingredients are cooked separately. This is a good idea especially when you have a picky eater in the family. Taiwanese Run Bing is served with chopped cilantro and top with crushed peanut.
Spring Roll Wrapper Tips
Wrapper
These wrappers can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to a week. You may freeze them and I highly recommend that you place parchment paper in between so it’s easier to remove once thawed.
You can use a wet paper towel and dab the wrapper to give it moisture before separating them. I also made the batter ahead of time and store it in the fridge until ready to use. This step will also save you a lot of time.
Cooking
- Use a non-stick pan
- The pan should be warm before adding the batter. Please note: if you brush a layer of oil and add the batter, you may see that the batter starts to disintegrate. This is because the pan is not warm enough. Stop the process and reheat the pan before continuing.
- Cook the batter over medium-low heat.
Check out my other Appetizers
This Taiwanese Run Bing (Popiah) is
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
- Easily customizable
- Perfect as a snack or a meal by itself
- Simple to make
If you try this recipe, I would love to hear your feedback and see your beautiful re-creation. Leave me a comment, rate it, and tag @woon.heng and #woonheng to your photos on Instagram or Facebook. Happy cooking, friends!
Taiwanese Run Bing (Popiah) – 潤餅
Equipment
- Silicone basting brush
Ingredients
Fresh Spring Roll Wrapper
- 300 g bread flour
- 450 g water
- 4 ice cubes
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Filling
- 7 oz firm tofu drained and sliced
- 1 cup kabocha squash julienned
- 4 stalks celery cut into matchstick-size
- 5 cups chopped cabbage
- ¼ teaspoon mushrooms seasoning
- salt to taste
- white pepper to taste
- toasted sesame oil
- Oil for brushing and cooking
Sauce
- Hoisin Sauce
- Chili Sauce used Sriracha
Instructions
- To make the spring roll wrapper, place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and use a rubber spatula to stir to combine. Add the water and ice cubes.
- Now fit the mixer with whisk or paddle attachment and stir the batter until there are no lumps appear.
- Cover the bowl with a tight lid and let the batter sit for 15 minutes. Alternatively, refrigerate until ready to use and thaw to room temperature before proceeding to the next step.
- While waiting for the batter to rest, prepare the filling.
- In a heated non-stick pan add some oil and pan-fry tofu until golden brown, then season with salt.
- Push the tofu to the side of the pan and sauté kabocha for another minute, adding more oil if needed. Season with salt and toss to combine.
- Add the celery, cabbage and season with white pepper, salt, and toasted sesame oil. Stir-fry the vegetables until well-combined.
- Cover the pan with a lid and let the mixture cook over medium-low heat for a minute or two until the cabbage starts to wilt.
- Remove the lid and toss the mixture again. Taste and season accordingly. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool down.
- Cook the spring roll wrapper. Warm a 12-inch non-stick pan, then remove from the heat.
- Drizzle some oil on a clean paper towel and rub it on the pan, covering the side.
- Next, stir the batter with a spatula. Take a basting brush and dip it into the batter.
- Brush a thin layer of batter to cover the base of the pan including the side. Add another layer if you prefer a thicker wrapper.
- Turn on the heat and cook the wrapper over medium-low heat.
- Once the wrapper turns from white to slightly translucent and the side starts to detach from the pan, turn off the heat.
- Lift up the wrapper from the pan and can be used immediately or store in an airtight container once cooled.
- To assemble, lay a wrapper on a chopping board.
- Add a tiny spoon of sauces on the wrapper, then top with a heaping spoon of filling. Sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.
- Now, bring both sides of the wrapper to the middle, lift up the bottom layer and fold over the filling by tuck it tightly. Roll it into a huge spring roll.
- Cut into half and serve as-is.
Video
Feel free to pin the below picture on your Pinterest Board for easy reference.
Hi Woon,
If I may ask what is the pan you are using here. It looks like ceramic? Love your recipes, so glad I found you from Food52!
Made these wrappers last night when Instagram was down—so I had to do it from memory! All I knew was water, flour, salt—so I made it up! It was absolutely delicious, so will definitely make again, but with the correct recipe! Yours are smoother than mine were. Can you tell me what the cold does, that is, the ice cubes? Does it contribute to the smoothness and texture—do you know how? Thank you!
Hello Debbie, so glad you made it. The ice cubes are added to keep the dough temperature down. I learn this little trick from one of the seller.
This looks delicious! Do you have any advice for a gluten free wrapper? Thank you! 🙂
Hello Alis, I don’t have one now. You can check my latest mochi bun if you like. 🙂
Thank you Woonheng, I will try with that one! 🙂 One more question, can I use the same recipe to make gluten free dumplings?
Exceptional content! Just exceptional. Where are you based …?
Hi,Woon,can i substitute bread flour for strong wheat flour?
Hey Donna, yes, you can, the color will look a bit darker but will work. Thanks!
Made this tonight and I can truly say it was amazing. Followed the directions for the wrappers-super simple and turned out perfect. The proper temp pan is the key! It’s just bread flour, water, salt and ice cubes. Made a stir fry of mushroom, celery, carrot, Napa cabbage- all cut long and thin. Flavored with a Korean BBQ sauce and finely diced jalapeños pepper. Will do this again for sure. So easy to make different fillings once you get the wrappers down. Loved it!
Many, many thanks Ed. I’m so happy yours turned out so well. They look perfectly thin and the filling was amazing! wow. This wrapper is really versatile. I’ll show you some other ways to cook in a few weeks. 🙂 Have a wonderful week. Many thanks. Best, WoonHeng
Can I use a hand mixer to make the wrapper?
Thanks.
Hey Lenny, yes, you can. Just make sure the mix until there are no lumps. Thanks again.
Do you have to use bread flour or can you use all-purpose flower as well?
Thank you!
Hello Deborah, bread flour works really well. If you want to use all purpose, you may need to stir the mixture longer and use a little less water, use about 25ml less. If it’s too thick, then add it back. Hope that helps. Let me know if you need anything else.