PUBLISHED ONNovember 12, 2024 5:38 AMBYMelissa Teo Popiah — a traditional spring roll of Chinese origin that is also commonly found in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan — often costs just a few dollars.
So seeing it being sold for a hefty RM2,888 (S$870) can be quite shocking.
Two Malaysian food establishments — Nimbus from Kuala Lumpur and Bibi's Popiah from Ipoh — have collaborated to create this premium dish, which they have aptly described as the 'Most Expensive Popiah'.
An Instagram Reel on Sunday (Nov 10) by Bibi's Popiah's co-founder, Perly Yuen, showed what went down during its launch.
This included a behind-the-scenes look at how each decadent popiah is made.
Perly shared that those keen on trying the premium dish have to make a pre-order one week in advance. The popiah is available at all five of Bibi's Popiah outlets in Malaysia.
Another Reel uploaded by Malaysian media KL Foodie on Nov 8 showed a more detailed look of what ingredients were used inside each popiah.
Chef Fred Choong from Nimbus Restaurant and Yao Tong from Bibi's Popiah revealed at the launch event that each popiah contains five different ingredients from various countries.
This includes two Alaskan king crab legs that have been lightly steamed for four to five minutes, torched spring onions and deep-fried cordyceps flowers coated in truffle oil.
Sweet and crunchy Ibaraki Keisui pear is used to replace the sengkuang (turnip) commonly found in regular popiah.
Each popiah is also slathered in a "secret sauce".
After being snugly rolled up with popiah skin from Bibi's Popiah, the dish is topped with ossetra caviar from France as well as 24-carat edible gold leaf from Italy.
"We have to make it bling," said chef Fred in the clip.
AsiaOne has reached out to Nimbus Restaurant and Bibi's Popiah for more details.
In social media comments, netizens gawked at the popiah's premium price point.
One even joked that it costs more than her rent.
Others questioned who would splurge that much on a luxurious popiah, while another felt that popiah should remain a "humble" dish.
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