Homemade Cheung Fun (Steamed Rice Noodle Rolls)- 5 Ways
Servings: 10 rolls
Learn how to make cheung fun easily at home using tools you already have in 5 ways: plain cheung fun, shrimp cheung fun/har cheung, dried shrimp, char siu cheung, and zha leung cheung fun.
Print Recipe
Ingredients
Basic plain cheung fun:
- 120 gr rice flour 1 cup + 2 Tbsp
- 10 gr wheat starch 1 1/2 Tbsp. see notes 1
- 10 gr tapioca starch 1 1/2 Tbsp. see notes 2
- ¼ tsp salt
- 15 gr cooking oil 1 Tbsp
- 500 ml water 2 cups
Filling ideas:
- 3 stalks green onion finely chopped
- 15 pieces large shrimp unpeeled, deveined
- 2 Tbsp medium-size dried shrimp + chopped green onion
- 1 Cup Char siu (Chinese bbq pork) + chopped green onion
- 10 pieces You tiau (Chinese fried crullers)
Sauce:
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp sugar adjust accordingly to your taste
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 Tbsp water
Instructions
Prepare the sauce:
- Place all ingredients for the sauce in a small saucepan and bring to a boil and cook until the sugar melts. Remove from the heat and let it cool down while you make cheung fun
For basic plain cheung fun:
- Prepare a steamer (big enough to harbor an 8 inches tray). Put a metal trivet on top. Pour water in, not touching the metal trivet. Bring the water to a rolling boil
- Mix all the ingredients for the batter. You can add in chopped green onion here in the batter too. In the video, I sprinkled it on after steaming the cheung fun. The green color is prettier this way, it's up to you. Stir until it is well-mixed and no lumps
- Place the empty pan in the steamer, cover with the lid and steam for about 1-2 minutes. This depends on the thickness of your pan.
- Give the batter a good stir EVERY TIME before you ladle it up and also check water level and see if you need to refill before starting to steam. You cannot refill water when you are in the middle of steaming the cheung fun. Make sure to bring the water back to a boil again
- Pour the batter on the preheated pan, you’ll need about 3-4 Tbsp of batter (or a bit more) for 8-inch square pan (this depends on the size of your pan too)
- The batter may dance around a bit because of the non-stick surface. No worries. Wear a heat-proof kitchen glove and gently swirl the pan to make sure the batter is covering the base of the pan
- Cover with a lid and steam for 3-5 minutes (5 minutes if you have a large pan). You may need to experiment with the timing, but it should be between 3-5 minutes
- The cheung fun will turn slightly translucent and bubbly on certain spots
Fill up kitchen sink with cold tap water:
- While the cheung fun is steaming, fill up your kitchen sink with about 5-8 cm of cold tap water
Cool down the cheung fun (this will resolve the sticky issue):
- Remove the pan from the steamer and place it on top of the water you filled up in the sink and let it cool down there for 2 minutes or so. This step is very important. The roll will be sticky if you try to roll it when it's warm
Roll the cheung fun:
- Use a rubber spatula to gently roll it up or fold it up from one end. I folded the cheung fun in this photo. The roll shouldn't stick to the pan anymore
- This is how it looks like all folded up
- Look at how clean the pan is after steaming. Nothing stick to it. If the batter sticks to your pan, that means you need to steam it longer
- Put the empty pan back into the steamer and steam for another 1 minute. Repeat this before steaming the rice rolls. Trust me, it’s worth the effort!
- Repeat the process again and DO NOT FORGET TO GIVE THE BATTER A GOOD STIR EACH TIME. The flour tends to settle at the bottom after a while. If you don’t give it a stir, your cheung fun won’t come out right
For shrimp cheung fun:
- Prepare the shrimp. Do not peel the shells. Run a kitchen shear along the back of the shrimp. Remove the black vein. Steam the shrimp over high heat for 5 minutes or until pinkish in color. Peel the shells and split the shrimp into half
- Pour the batter on the preheated pan, you’ll need about 1 1/2 cups of batter (this depends on the size of your pan too)
- Cover with a lid and steam for 3-5 minutes. Remove from the pan from the steamer and place on a cold water you fill up in the sink for about 2 minutes. Then arrange the shrimp as shown in the photos and fold over. You can arrange only 3 shrimps (like I did in the video) if you don't want too many shrimps in one roll, it's up to you
For dried shrimp cheung fun:
- Soak dried shrimp in hot water for 5 minutes or until soft.
- Pour the batter on the preheated pan, you’ll need about 3-4 tablespoons (about 50-60 ml) of batter (this depends on the size of your pan too). Steam over high heat for 2 minutes. Sprinkle the dried shrimp and chopped green onion evenly on top. Cover the steamer and steam for another 2 minutes and then remove from the steamer and place in the cold water you filled up in the kitchen sink for 2 minutes. Then roll it up
For ground meat cheung fun:
- Marinate the ground meat (usually pork or beef) in the seasoning of your choice.
- Pour the batter on the preheated pan, you’ll need about 3-4 tablespoons (about 50-60 ml) of batter (this depends on the size of your pan too). Steam over high heat for 2 minutes. Sprinkle about 1 Tbsp of the ground meat and chopped green onion evenly on top. Cover the steamer and steam for another 2 minutes and then remove from the steamer and place in the cold water you filled up in the kitchen sink for 2 minutes. Then roll it up
For char siu cheung fun:
- Pour the batter on the preheated pan, you’ll need about 1 1/2 cups of batter (this depends on the size of your pan too). Steam over high heat for 3-5 minutes. Sprinkle the chopped char siu and chopped green onion and then remove from the steamer and place in the cold water you filled up in the kitchen sink for 2 minutes and roll it up
For zha leung cheung fun:
- Pour the batter on the preheated pan, you’ll need about 1 1/2 cups of batter (this depends on the size of your pan too). Steam over high heat for 3-5 minutes. Remove from the steamer and place in the cold water you filled up in the kitchen sink for 2 minutes. Place one you tiau / Chinese fried dough (I actually split into half, but you can use the whole thing) and then roll up
Keep them warm before serving:
- While you are still steaming the rest of the cheung fun, place each roll on a lightly oiled plate and loosely tent the plate with an aluminum foil and keep them warm in the oven. You can also keep it warm in another steamer on the lowest heat, if you have another one set up
Serving:
- Serve cheung fun with sauce drizzle on top or on the side. Sprinkle with more chopped green onion if you wish
Video
Notes
- Try not to substitute wheat starch with other starch. The wheat starch really makes the cheung fun texture soft yet resilient. If you absolutely can't find wheat starch, you can substitute with tapioca starch, though not my favorite sub, but the closest.
- I added a little bit of tapioca starch to the batter as it makes the cheung fun more resilient and doesn't tear easily. I don't like too much of tapioca starch in the cheung fun because it makes the cheung fun too chewy and firm. Cheung fun supposed to be soft and you will love the texture of this cheung fun.
