Rice Noodle Rolls – Cheung Fun. Steamed soft chewy rice noodle rolls with scallions, sesame seeds and soy sauce. A scrumptious dish that is commonly served for dim sum for breakfast or as a side dish. Popularly served with soy sauce, peanut butter, hoisin or all those sauces mixed into one.
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What are Rice Noodle Rolls?
Rice Noodle Rolls, also known as Cheung Fun or Chee Cheong Fun in Chinese, are fresh rice noodles that are usually served plain with a sweet dark soy sauce, hoisin sauce, peanut butter sauce. Other times they contain various fillings from shrimp, ground beef, dried shrimp, scallions, and char siu. The rice noodles are chewy and tender in texture and pair so well with aforementioned sauces. A popular Chinese dish that comes from Hong Kong. These are often served at many Chinese dim sum restaurants and it's such a treat. You would see the waiters rolling their carts around with bamboo steamer baskets filled with my favorite dishes in dim sum culture. One of them being these rice noodle rolls.
The rice batter is made of rice flour, cornstarch (or tapioca starch, potato starch or glutinous rice flour), salt and water. The batter poured into a small baking pan with a very thin layer of oil in a bamboo steamer. The tender sheets of rice noodles are gently rolled with a dough scraper and served hot with sauce. Homemade cheung fun is pretty simple to make if you follow my directions. You'll only need a handful of pantry ingredients to create this steamed rice noodle roll. I've spent a lot of time developing this recipe so the rice rolls are tender and chewy. I'm thrilled to share my version of this Chinese restaurant classic with you!
Ingredients
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Regular rice flour: not glutinous rice flour
- Cornstarch or glutinous rice flour: or sub with tapioca starch, potato starch
- Salt
- Cold water
- Neutral oil: like vegetable oil or any scentless oil
Serving Sauce
- Sweet dark soy sauce
- Chopped scallions
- Sesame seeds
How to make Rice Noodle Rolls
Create Batter
In a large bowl, whisk together the rice flour, cornstarch and salt until well combined. Pour water into the dry ingredients and whisk well.
Prepare Steamer
Next in a large wok with a wired rack or a large steamer, fill the wok with enough water for steaming. Place a 10 x 8-inch tray or small baking sheet with a lip on top. This rice noodle roll pan needs to be clean and a smooth surface ideally. Make sure the tray is 100% levelled or you’ll end up with an uneven rice roll that is thick in some areas and thin in other areas.
Brush Baking Tray with Oil
Brush 1 teaspoon of neutral oil on the tray each time you pour the batter to create a new roll. Then bring the water to a boil for steaming over high heat.
Pour Batter
Whisk the batter again and then pour ½ cup of it into the oiled tray. If your tray is not levelled you may need to tilt the wok with tongs so that the batter reaches all areas of the tray. Fill any holes but be cautious of the steam. It’s very hot!
Cover & Steam
Cover with a lid and allow this to cook for 4 minutes. Do not open it. You should see large bubbles form under the rice roll.
Roll the Noodle Sheet
Next turn off the heat completely. Remove the lid. Use two spatulas or a dough cutter to lift the end of the roll closest to you and begin to roll towards the end. The roll should be 1 inch thick.
Slice in the roll in half with a thin bladed spatula or dough cutter. Transfer to your serving plate. Repeat this process until you have no more batter left.
Garnish & Enjoy
Garnish with sesame seeds, scallions and sweet soy sauce. Enjoy your steamed rice rolls hot!
Storage & Reheating
Leftover cheung fun will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge. To reheat, microwave for 2-3 minutes or re-steam until hot.
Expert Tips
- Make sure to buy rice flour that is not the glutinous kind. This is so important!
- Use a bamboo steaming basket for best results so the baking pan remains levelled for evenly thin rice noodle sheets.
- Use a smooth clean pan with a lip or a tray. I share one that you can buy for this Cantonese style cheong fun. You need one with a lip, so the batter doesn’t spill out.
- Make sure your tray is sitting levelled on your bamboo steamer or wired rack. This will either make the rolling process easy or very difficult. Because if the batter pools in one area making that part of the roll thicker, you will have an uncooked roll that tastes very starchy, and it will make it more difficult to roll.
- Whisk the batter again before pouring it into the baking pan. This is important because the cornstarch tends to fall to the bottom of the bowl.
- Pour the batter into the middle of the tray so it evenly distributes across your tray for an even texture.
- Cover and do not lift the cover to check. Allow this to cook for the full four minutes.
- Use a dough cutter to help you lift the rice noodle sheet and for rolling.
- Keep the rolls warm for serving
FAQ
What kind of serving sauce can I enjoy this with?
- Regular soy sauce
- Sweet soy sauce (My favourite)
- Peanut butter
- Hoisin
- Equal parts soy sauce, hoisin and peanut butter mixed.
Other rice noodle recipes you may like!
📖 Recipe
Rice Noodle Rolls – Cheung Fun
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice flour not the glutinous kind
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups water
- 4 teaspoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
Serve with:
- 3 tablespoon sweet soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon scallions
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Instructions
- In a large bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the rice flour, cornstarch and salt until well combined. Pour water into the dry ingredients and whisk well.
- Next in a large wok with a wired rack or a large steamer, fill the wok with enough water for steaming. Place a 10 x 8-inch tray or small baking sheet with a lip on top. This rice noodle roll pan needs to be clean and a smooth surface ideally. Make sure the tray is 100% levelled or you’ll end up with an uneven rice roll that is thick in some areas and thin in other areas.
- Brush 1 teaspoon of neutral oil on the tray each time you pour the batter to create a new roll. Then bring the water to a boil for steaming over high heat.
- Whisk the batter again and then pour ½ cup of it into the oiled tray. If your tray is not levelled you may need to tilt the wok so that the batter reaches all areas of the tray. Fill any holes but be cautious of the steam. It’s very hot!
- Cover with a lid and allow this to cook for 4 minutes. Do not open it. You should see large bubbles form under the rice roll.
- Next turn off the heat completely. Remove the lid. Use two spatulas or a dough cutter to lift the end of the roll closest to you and begin to roll towards the end. The roll should be 1 inch thick. Slice in the roll in half with a thin bladed spatula or dough cutter. Transfer to your serving plate. Repeat this process until you have no more batter left.
- Garnish with sesame seeds, scallions and soy sauce. Enjoy your steamed rice rolls hot!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
That was a great tip for what kind of flour to use. I really love both the texture and flavors of these fun little rolls!