Cheung fun (Cantonese steamed rice noodles) is one of my favorite breakfast dishes. You may find lots of sub-versions if you visit Guangdong province. With similar methods, people use different flour mixture and water ration to adjust the thickness, transparence and elasticity of Cheung fun.
The most secretarial part of a popular Cheung fun restaurant is the sauce. Although basically soy sauce, sugar, water and oyster sauce are used in the sauce, restaurants usually add their preferred ingredients to create unique flavors. For example, some of the local restaurants use fried garlic and starch to create a garlicky thick sauce while others may offer a cleaner one.
It is really not difficult to make Cheung fun at home, but it is quite hard to achieve the same thickness as offered in restaurants because of the equipments and skills. However homemade version yield great results too.
You can adjust the filling accordingly. For example, you can use egg and green leaf to create a vegetarian version or you can skip everything and make pure steamed rice rolls.
Batter
- 1 cup rice flour (110g)
- 1/3 cup corn starch (40g)
- 1/3 cup+1 tbsp. wheat starch (50g)
- 500ml water
- a tiny pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
Filling
- 1/2 cup chopped shrimp (either dried shrimp or fresh shrimp)
- 1/3 cup chopped green onion
Sauce
- 1/2 tbsp. oyster sauce
- 1/2 tbsp. dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp. water
- 1 tsp. rock sugar
- 1/2 tbsp. sesame oil
Garnishing
- Chopped spring onion
- Toasted white sesame
- Sha Cha sauce or fried shallots
In a large bowl, mix rice flour, cornstarch, wheat starch, salt oil and water. Stir well to make sure the batter is well mixed. Set aside for 10 minutes.
Prepare a rectangle or square pan and a large wok that can hold the pan. Bring enough water to a boiling and then place your pan in. In a small bowl, pour a small amount of oil and then brush the steaming pan with a very very thin layer of oil and then pour the batter in. (I pour around 3 tablespoons of batter each time and it should spread to form a very thin layer at the bottom).
Make it even and then steam for 1 minute until the batter firms, then sprinkle shrimp and green onions. Re-steam for 2 minutes over high fire.
Transfer out, use a knife to separate the edges from the pan firstly and then roll it up to a 2-3cm wide tube. Serve with garnishes and sauce.
If you prefer, you can cut them into one bite size sections.
- 1 cup rice flour (110g)
- ⅓ cup corn starch (40g)
- ⅓ cup+1 tbsp. wheat starch (50g)
- 500ml water
- a tiny pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
- ½ cup chopped shrimp (either dried shrimp or fresh shrimp)
- ⅓ cup chopped green onion
- ½ tbsp. oyster sauce
- ½ tbsp. dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp. water
- 1 tsp. rock sugar
- ½ tbsp. sesame oil
- Chopped spring onion
- Toasted white sesame
- Sha Cha sauce or fried shallots
- In a large bowl, mix rice flour, cornstarch, wheat starch, salt oil and water. Stir well to make sure the batter is well mixed. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- Prepare a rectangle or square pan and a large wok that can hold the pan. Bring enough water to a boiling and then place your pan in.
- In a small bowl, pour a small amount of oil and then brush the steaming pan with a very very thin layer of oil and then pour the batter in. (I pour around 3 tablespoons of batter each time and it should spread to form a very thin layer at the bottom). Make it even and then steam for 1 minute until the batter firms, then sprinkle shrimp and green onions. Re-steam for 2 minutes over high fire.
- Transfer out, use a knife to separate the edges from the pan firstly and then roll it up to a 2-3cm wide tube. If you prefer, you can cut the tube into one-bite size sections.
- In a saucepan, add all the ingredients expect sesame oil and heat to boil. Then turn down the heat and let it simmer for 3-5 minutes. Add sesame oil and ransfer out to cool down.
- Garnish toasted white sesame seeds and chopped green onions. Drizzle the sauce and top with sha cha sauce (totally optional, but I recommend you trying it.)
Do you start with hot water (as you do when making dumpling dough with rice flour and wheat starch) or cold or room temp? Thank you – I’ll be making this over the weekend!
I use room temperature water, Nancy.
Thank you! I will be trying this recipe very shortly!
Good luck! Looking forward to your good news.
What is the size of the rectangular pan you use to cook them?
Around 25cm long and 18cm wide.
So beautiful and seems so yami 🙂
Thanks Ana!
Wonder if this recipe could be used to make chow fun. Do you think the dough is sturdy enough? This looks great but I’ll bet you really need to be very careful with such a delicate looking dough. I always learn something fabulous from your site!
Chow Fun noodle is what I’m looking for. My favorite restaurant went out of business and I’ve not found another chow fun as good as theirs. I’m going to try this recipe!
Hi Stuart,
It is a popular dish in Sichuan but almost no one knows it outside the area. I love it very much too and do not cook it frequently. Your Guo Ba Rou Pirn is on the list and I will bring it alive as soon as possible.
hi. is tehre any difference between corn and wheat startch? here we can only buy corn startch. is it OK if I use it instead of wheta starch?
They have slight differences. Wheat starch is less transparent than cornstarch and with less tenacity. But it would be ok to substitute wheat starch with cornstarch in this recipe.
thx. I’ll try it this weekend.
Can we substitute wheat starch with tapioca starch? /
If you cannot find wheat starch, you can use tapioca starch in this recipe.
Finally got to make this! We had some beautiful breakfast sausage to use as filling. Click through to see all the pictures, and thank you for the recipe and technique tips! https://www.flickr.com/photos/nancyheller/30884318724/in/album-72157662344237043/
Nancy,
Your’s comes out great! Using sausage is a brilliant idea.
I can’t wait to make this. This is one of my favorite things to order when I go to dim sum, but have never tried making it myself. I’m so glad I found this recipe!
My kids love cheung fun (as do I) so I will be trying this recipe soon. Ideally I’d like to find a recipe for the beef version we often have in yum cha. Thanks!
You can use this wrapper and fill with chopped beef.
These rolls were absolutely incredible. Everything turned out perfectly and just as I remembered. Thanks so much!
Wow..Looking so yummy and tasty i will definitely try it.
Can I use corn starch instead of wheat starch? Can I use any other alternatives for wheat starch and rock sugar?
You can try to use cornstarch only.
Rock sugar can be replaced by brown sugar or other sweet agents.
could I use potato starch instead of one of the other two starches, perhaps instead of the corn starch? many thanks
Hi Georgina,
Yes, potato starch can be used as a substitute for cornstarch.