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Hong Kong 'Cheong Fun' Recipe (Steamed Rice Noodle Rolls) with Photo Tutorial 港式肠粉

Saturday, March 19, 2011 | Labels: , , , , , |

I am excited today to feature a classic dim sum favourite, steamed rice rolls Hong Kong style.  This version of steamed rice noodle rolls or 'cheong fun' which means intestine-shaped noodles can be made with a myriad of fillings, from roast pork, shrimp and scallops.  For today, I just used a simple filling of dried shrimp and chopped up scallions (green onions).  I absolutely loved the silky smooth and feather-like texture of the rolls and the simple savoury filling provided some great crunch and fragrance.  This is my first ever attempt at making cheong fun and I was glad they turned out well, so this is not hard to prepare but is a little time-consuming.  These rolls are easily available in most dim sum places but sometimes it is just more fun to make things from scratch - at least for me and I vastly preferred the texture of these compared to some versions at restaurants that I've had that were a little too chewy bordering on tough. 

cheong fun

The rolls are a simple concoction of rice flour, tapioca flour and corn flour and water where a thin layer is steamed with dried shrimp and scallions, and then rolled up.  The main thing to keep in mind is that the oil must always be added to the flour mixture before adding water gradually to form the batter.  You can either use a piece of wet cheesecloth placed on the tray, then spoon the batter or if you want to skip the cheesecloth, just be sure to lightly brush the tray with oil before ladling the batter to be steamed.  I actually tried both ways today and I found that both methods worked equally well.  I would actually just skip the cheesecloth as that is one less thing to wash.  As with most dim sum, these rolls are best served piping hot, in fact my guests were standing around me as I was making the rolls and eating as soon as I finished rolling.

cheong fun

Note that the rice rolls do not have much flavour on their own, most of the flavours in this dish come from the savoury soy-based dipping sauce.  For the sauce, you will need light soy sauce, sugar, water, some scallions and a small knob of ginger.  Add some chilli oil for a touch of heat.  I hope you will give this a try when your mood strikes and you're ready to make some 'cheong fun' from scratch plus trust me, your guests will be so impressed.


Ingredients:

250g rice flour
76g tapioca flour
38g corn flour/ corn starch
50g oil
900 ml water

Filling:

1/2 cup dried shrimp, soaked and rinsed
6 stalks green onions/ scallions, sliced

Sauce: (Just boil the ingredients together)


Note: As the dipping sauce provides most of the flavours in this dish, it is quite important to use a good brand of light soy sauce, my preferred choice is Yuen Chun - product pictured above.

100ml soy sauce
100ml water
60g sugar
2 stalks scallions
2 pieces ginger

Method:

1.  Mix the flours together in a large bowl.  Add in the oil while slowly kneading with your other hand.

cheong fun

2.  Add the water slowly and continue mixing with your hands, getting rid of any lumps.  The batter will be quite watery.  Prepare your steamer, the rice rolls have to be steamed over high heat.  Prepare a rectangular tray for steaming by laying a piece of wet cheesecloth on top, if using.  If not, brush the tray lightly with oil.

cheong fun

3.  Ladle enough batter to cover tray in a thin layer.  Add in dried shrimp and scallions.  Steam for about 3 minutes or until set.  The rice layer will look opaque once cooked.  Remove from wok.

cheong fun

The rice layer after being steamed, I made a plain one as well as pictured below
cheong fun

4.  Lightly brush your work surface (I used a large chopping board) with oil. 

cheong fun

5.  Tilt the tray at an angle, then with a spatula start gently scraping off the layer while creating a roll. 

cheong fun

6.  Place roll on oiled chopping board and coat lightly with the oil.  You can choose to slice the rolls or just leave them as they are for serving.

cheong fun

7.  Repeat steps 3-6 until batter is used up.  Serve hot with the dipping sauce and some chilli oil.

cheong fun

63 comments:

Three-Cookies said...

Looks excellent, a reasonably complicated process involved. The end result makes it worth the effort

Weng @ I heart My Bakes said...

Wow. Your cheung fun looks like what is sold at hawker stalls. I would defintely try it someday. Thanks for sharing!

Kristy said...

Oh, So you found the clothe! :o) Hmm... this is something not to miss. I love any kind of CCF. And especially CCF with curry gravy & veggies plus Chinese red sweet sauce. Salivating! Too bad, it's not available here in our small town. Have to make my own! Thanks for sharing. Hope you're having a fabulous weekend.
Cheers, Kristy

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Hi Kristy! I actually found that I brought some back when I shipped my stuff back from the US haha so I didnt look for any here. I love CCF too. It's great that you can make your own right? :D Hope you have a great weekend too!

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Thanks Weng! Do let me know how it turns out if you do try it :D

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

You're right! It does require a bit of effort :D

Jeannie said...

I like this cheong fun..never fail to order every time we eat out at tim sum restaurants:) I love the chilli that goes with this dish!

Jeannie said...

I like this cheong fun..never fail to order every time we eat out at tim sum restaurants:) I love the chilli that goes with this dish!

jen said...

craving for chee cheung fun now after reading this post of yours *drooling*

Smallkucing said...

yummy...i like HK CCF. Eat with the fried cili...wah best!

Dina @ The Dish and The Dirt said...

That looks great Jen! That is my husband's all time favorite!
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Cooking Gallery said...

You just made my favourite dim sum snack ever...!!! I should try to find out where I can find cheesecloth here in Germany, I always use my plastic lunchbox to steam chee cheong fun, which I think is not very good in the long run. Thanks for sharing :D)!!

LeeYong said...

Hi Jen,
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe... This is by far one of my favorite at dim sum... have you ever tried adding fried dough inside the dough after it comes out of the steamer? I've had that at dim sum.. and it's the best! I never though making this recipe is so simple... or maybe you just made it that way!
Happy baking!
LeeYong

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Jen, thanks for dropping by! :D

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

yes smallkucing! the fried chilli makes it even better :D

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Dina, thank you!

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

CG, you can also just steam it on a steel tray after lightly brushing with oil :D

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Hi LeeYong, glad you like this! I have yet to find a good recipe for the fried dough but I do like those as well, 'cha liong', you can buy some and make these rice noodles and just wrap the dough with this and the sauce is the same :D Thanks for dropping by! Once I find a good recipe for the fried dough, I will definitely share the recipe..thanks for a great idea!

Tinytearoom said...

I absolutely loved eating this while I was in HK. Oh you make memiss all the glorious food. Great photos!

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Thanks for your kind words! I always eat so much while in HK!

Little Inbox said...

This is what I usually order from dim sum house. Never thought of making it my own. Yours looks good!

Mei Teng said...

My favourite! Love these.

Mei Teng said...

My favourite! Love these.

Daphne said...

What an easy tutorial. I usually just order or buy store made ones but yours look sooo good!! I guess fresh always taste better!

Xiaolu Hou said...

This looks awesome, Jen! I'm surprised you got to take these photos with those eager hungry guests all around you. I certainly would've been trying to grab a bite haha. I tried making these once a long time ago before I'd found great food blog tutorials like this and it was a bit of a disaster. But these are soooo much tastier freshly made and there are no good dimsum places near me, so I think it's time to try again!

carolynjung said...

This is one of my all-time fave dim sum dishes. I love it with shrimp, pork, beef -- you name it. I have never been brave enough to make my own rice noodles, though. You are amazing!

ramenkia said...

Will it make any difference if you lightly fry the dried shrimps to make it fragrant before steaming? Just wondering. I also like it with fresh shrimps. So nice.

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Little Inbox, thank you!

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Thanks Mei Teng.

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Daphne, thank you! This was my first time making too and yes they did taste fresher and I really loved the texture plus it was fun (for me) hehe

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Xiaolu, thank you! This was my first time making too and at first when I saw that the batter was so watery, I was like uh-oh but luckily it turned out alright haha..ohh I only took the photos of the last two rolls after everyone already had their fill :D Do hope you like this if you try this recipe :D

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Aww, thanks Carolyn! It's actually not hard to make but it is time-consuming and a bit tiring since you have to stand for quite a while :D

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Ramenkia, I guess you could try that? Although it is quite important to use better quality dried shrimp since some may be too 'fishy'. Do let me know if you fry your shrimp before filling and how it turns out :D Fresh shrimp is great too!

Min {Honest Vanilla} said...

Oh wow I didn't know this can be made at home! How fantastic! :) Mmmm I shall try to make this soon! Any tips or tricks to ensure the skin is thin for the Cheong Fun?

Min {Honest Vanilla} said...

Oh wow I didn't know this can be made at home! How fantastic! :) Mmmm I shall try to make this soon! Any tips or tricks to ensure the skin is thin for the Cheong Fun?

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Min, thanks! Hmm, for a thin layer as soon as your batter covers the tray you are using entirely, stop ladling the batter. That's how I did it :D Hope that helps.

Beachlover said...

wow!! salut to you!! make the effort to make cheong fun at home..now you make me also want to try making this at home!

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

haha, it was actually quite fun to make (this was my first attempt too) hope you give it a try!

Shaz said...

Wow, this is so impressive Jen! I love this dish and always though it was too tricky to make at home. I am definitely going to try this soon. Never realised that cheong fun meant intestine!

Christine@Christine's Recipes said...

Wooo, haven't made it for a long long time. I'd definitely order this dimsum whenever I go to yumcha.

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Thanks Shaz! I hope you give this a try soon, it's quite fun to make at home too. :D

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Yes, me too!

ramenkia said...

yeah man, we get our good quality shrimps from Penang, a little shop in Jln Kuala Kangsar market, very fresh, good size, no colouring and yum. The salted fish (mui heong and kurau for frying) are also good.

wiffy said...

Thanks for the glimpse into how chee cheong fun is made. Yours look tasty and smooth!

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Thanks Wiffy!

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

That sounds great! According to my mom, it's not easy to get good quality salted fish :)

[email protected] said...

amazing!

tigerfish said...

What's on top of your cheong fun (chili, green onions) makes it different from those in dim-sum restaurants. Nowadays, dim-sum restaurants only serve it plain, on top ;)

Yours is professional-standard!

tigerfish said...

What's on top of your cheong fun (chili, green onions) makes it different from those in dim-sum restaurants. Nowadays, dim-sum restaurants only serve it plain, on top ;)

Yours is professional-standard!

Ellie said...

Steamed cheong fun is so fiddly! Yours look perfect :)

beyondkimchee said...

This was one of the dishes we often ordered in our favorite dim sum restaurant in HK. Good to know how to make them. What is light say sauce? Is it low in sodium or light in flavor?

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Thanks!! :D

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Ellie, thank you! :)

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Chinese soy sauces have a light and dark version, the light one is the one often used or also known as 'regular' soy sauce..hope that helps! It should be on the label of the bottle.

Lyndsey said...

This is impressive! You make it look easy, I might just give it a try!

Pudding Pie Lane said...

*Sigh*... you take the most amazing photos :)
And you'reso dedicated too, I really must try this sometime,I love the texture and I don't want to only be able to eat these once a year then I visit China!

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Thanks so much for your kind words! Yes you must! :D Although I admit this is a little time-consuming..u know wat, do this wth frens, it'll be fun too!

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

thanks Lyndsey! I really hope to encourage more ppl to try making seemingly complex stuff at home (it's fun! and very satisfying)

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

thanks!

Jaithia said...

Can someone convert the measurements to cups and spoonfuls for me please?

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Hi! Sorry for the late reply :) It is still best to use grams for this recipe, I did try measuring into cups and spoonfuls before but it was not as accurate....

Siro said...

Beautiful- I miss eating this and would love to try! A question please: for the batter, did you really mean 50 -GRAMS- of oil? You measured it by weight? And which type of oil did you use? Thank you! 

Tastes of Home (Jen) said...

Thanks Siro, I did measure the oil by weight as I was already pulling out the kitchen scales and I found that to be the best ratio. I used vegetable oil, you can use canola/ sunflower just not stuff which have a strong scent like olive oil/ peanut oil IMO. Hope that helps. Do let me know if you have more questions!

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