Popiah is described as a fresh spring roll in Fujianese and Teochew Chinese styles.
The name refers to a soft, uncooked wrapper enclosing a mixture of vegetables, sauces, and sometimes meat or seafood. Fujianese and Teochew communities developed closely related versions, and the dish later traveled widely with Chinese migration to Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
Popiah is often confused with fried spring rolls because both use thin wrappers. Traditional fresh popiah is not deep-fried: the wheat-flour skin remains tender while the filling may include cooked turnip or jicama, bean sprouts, lettuce, omelet, tofu, sausage, peanuts, and fried shallots. Different regions adjust the fillings and sauces.
The word popiah means “thin flatbread” or “thin cake” in the relevant southern Chinese varieties. It is also linked historically to the broader family of Fujianese spring-roll foods, including the dishes that became Indonesian lumpia and Filipino lumpia. Popiah is especially associated with Qingming Festival meals and with communal popiah parties, where diners assemble their own rolls.