Three Types of Hoppers, or Appam
by Taste of Asia, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Hoppers, also known as "appam" are one of the most ubiquitous dishes in Sri Lankan cuisine. At its simplest form a hopper is a very thin and crispy crepe-like pancake made from rice flour and coconut milk that is cooked in a deep pan.
The resulting bowl-shaped pancake is then filled with a variety of ingredients, rolled up, and eaten like a burrito.
I visited Taste of Asia in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, to try three different types of traditional hoppers.
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| hopper with sambol and potato curry |
The first hopper that I tried was an egg hopper.
A fluffy egg is fried right in the center of the hopper as it cooks in the pan, clinging to the bottom and coating the rice flour pancake with a rich pillow of egg.
The egg hopper was topped with a spicy potato curry and a heaping of sambol, a spicy coconut relish made with hot chili peppers, salt, and lime juice.
A very popular breakfast street food dish, egg hoppers are spicy, savory, and filling.
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| classic Sri Lankan egg hopper |
Next, I tried a hopper filled with soya pork (vegan meat cooked in a pork-like gravy) and more sambol. this was a thicker and richer filling than the first one that I tried.
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| vegan hopper with sambol and soya pork |
The third and final hopper was not served with sambol. It was a simpler taste; a crispy hopper filled with a rich, sweet coconut custard.
The creamy and chilled custard cut through the spice of the previous hoppers and was a perfect sweet dessert after a delicious meal.
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| sweet coconut custard hopper for dessert |
Location
Taste of Asia is located at 324, Galle Road, Colombo 4, Colombo, Western Province 00400.
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| Taste of Asia Restaurant in Colombo, Sri Lanka |
See the map below for the exact location.
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