Cheung Fun: Silky Cantonese Steamed Rice Rolls

Cheung fun are Cantonese steamed rice rolls: a sheet of rice batter steamed so thin it turns glossy and almost translucent, rolled around shrimp, beef, a crisp Chinese doughnut or nothing at all, then cut into lengths and dressed with sweet soy sauce. They are usually traced to Guangzhou, and they are on nearly every dim sum table, often ordered within the first few minutes.

What is cheung fun?

The name 腸粉, pronounced roughly chéung fán, means something like "intestine noodle". The reference is simply to shape: long, soft, rolled sheets that early diners thought resembled a length of pork intestine. Nothing in the dish is offal.

A plate usually holds three rolls, each about the width of two fingers. The texture is the point. A well-made sheet is silky and slippery, soft but with a slight spring, and thin enough that the colour of the filling shows faintly through. The soy sauce, sweetened and sometimes cooked with aromatics, is poured over just before eating and pools in the folds.

How is cheung fun made?

The batter is mostly rice, traditionally soaked and stone-ground, today often rice flour, with a little wheat or other starch for elasticity. It is poured very thin onto a flat surface and steamed for a minute or two until set, then the filling is laid on and the sheet is rolled.

Two methods are common in Guangdong:

• Cloth-steamed (布拉腸, bou laai cheung): batter is spread on a cotton cloth over a steamer, then the cloth is pulled away to release the sheet. This is the style most associated with Guangzhou and Hong Kong dim sum.
• Drawer-steamed (抽屜腸): batter is steamed in shallow metal trays that slide in and out of a cabinet, a style common at breakfast shops and street stalls across Guangdong.

Each produces a slightly different texture, but both depend on the same things: a smooth batter, an even layer and fast, strong steam.

Where does cheung fun come from?

Most accounts trace the rice roll to Guangdong, and the cloth-steamed style to Guangzhou in the first half of the twentieth century, where it was sold by street vendors and in tea houses. A popular legend links the dish to the Qianlong emperor, who is said to have named it on a visit to the south; it is a charming story but not a documented one.

What is certain is that cheung fun moved from breakfast stalls into dim sum, and from Guangzhou and Hong Kong into Cantonese restaurants around the world. Along the way it collected fillings: barbecued pork, shrimp, beef, and the much-loved zha leung, a fried dough stick wrapped in rice sheet so the centre stays crisp.

How to eat cheung fun

Rice rolls are slippery, so lift each piece from underneath with chopsticks or use a spoon. Make sure the soy sauce reaches the whole roll before you start. They are best straight away, while the sheet is still warm and supple; left too long, the rice firms up.

Because they are mild and soft, rice rolls sit well between richer dishes and are a good choice for children and older guests alike.

Cheung fun at Neptune Palace

Our rice roll section offers seven choices at both our Vancouver location at Marine Gateway and our Burnaby location at The Amazing Brentwood:

• 301 Rice Rolls with Dried Scallop & Dried Shrimp
• 302 Crispy Purple Rice Rolls with Prawns
• 303 Rice Rolls with Jumbo Prawns & Yellow Chives
• 304 Rice Rolls with Chinese Doughnut & Pork Floss
• 305 Rice Rolls with Fish Paste & Crispy Bean Curd Sheet
• 306 Rice Rolls with Beef & Pea Tips, a newer addition
• 307 Fresh Soy Milk Rice Rolls

For a first taste, the jumbo prawn roll is the classic, and the Chinese doughnut roll shows off the contrast of soft and crisp. Our Burnaby location also serves vegan Plain Rice Rolls (308). Dim sum runs daily until 3 pm, and weekend tables can be reserved by phone.

Questions, answered