Saturday, 11 July 2009

Qi Ji Popiah - Still the best so far..

Photobucket
A: I've been eating Qi Ji Popiah ever since it was opened long time ago.

What I like about it is:
1) The sweet sauce
2) Thin Popiah skin that desn't break off
3) The crunchy fish bits inside

I've tried popiah from other places as well but so far none was comparable with Qi Ji.
Especially the disappointing famous Kway Guan Huat Popiah. Thick skin, overflowing sauce and tasteless fillings. I'm surprised that Qi Ji was able to maintain it's standard throughout most of the outlets that I've tried so far!
I heard about the famous long house popiah at toa payoh but I've not try it!
Wait till I try it then I'll know where is my No. 1 Popiah in SG!
I'm coming for it soon!

J's & A's ratings: 4.5/5

2 comments:

Charlie said...

QiJi is comparatively good, but I realised they tend to stinge on their ingredients these days. I thought meagre fillings negate the eating pleasure and satisfaction arising from an otherwise wholesome, generously filled piece of popiah. There would have been more 'oomph' with every bite. A good piece of popiah, in my opinion, shouldn't only be defined by merely a resistant skin and/or special sweet sauce. A bountiful amt of savoury ingredients is just as essential. No doubt its popiahs do (still) have a certain standard, QiJi should not be complacent with its signature popiah skin and sweet sauce but needs to recognise the importance of the complimentary role of the ingredients because ultimately, they do make a difference.

Well, there are plenty of good tasting popiahs out there that are cheaper in price per piece. I would recommend this stall within Long House coffeeshop located at upper thomson, in between an OCBC bank and a Shell petrol kiosk. Priced at $1.50 a piece, the popiah comes in sweet turnips (cooked in a sweet pot of broth that gives the turnips a sweet taste), lettuce, bean sprouts, cucumber shreds that give a crunchy and refreshing bite, prawns, some crumby bits as well as peanuts. Really value for money yet really sumptuous.

Ping Kee Popiahs at Sembawang Hills are pretty good too; their turnips have a lardy taste but i found it too oily to my liking. It's cheap. $1.20 a piece.

I have yet patronised Glory's but I have plans to. Apparently, their nonya popiahs look enticing.

All in all, all popiahs have their own distinctive selling points, I would say. It boils down to how each of them happens to suit individual's palate. =)

SistaFood said...

Hi Charlie,

That is the problem faced by many F&B business when they started to have more outlets. Quality may be inconsistent throughout the various outlets. Qi Ji popiah may be our No. 1 choice in the past, but our opinions have changed. Having tried so many popiah from the various places, it is clear to us that a good popiah is not only defined by the skin and sweet sauce. We agree that other ingredients play an important role too. Sweet and fragrant turnips is what we are looking for in a good popiah, apart from the sweet sauce and skin. A popiah skin that can hold the ingredients well, the chilli used in the popiah etc, all are the contributing factors of what a good popiah should have.

Other good and cheap popiah we've tried is at Old Airport Food Centre which is priced at $1.20 per piece. It is similar to Qi Ji but the sweet sauce and crunchy bits are slightly different.

Glory's popiah has not disappoint us so far each time we were there for a quick popiah fix. It is the extremely juicy turnips that won our hearts over. Do try it out if you happen to be there.

And many thanks to your popiah recommendations! Hope to hear more nice recommendation from you soon! :)