Rice noodle roll
Encyclopedia
A rice noodle roll is a Cantonese
dish from southern China and Hong Kong
, commonly served as a variety of dim sum
. It is a thin roll made from a wide strip of shahe fen
(rice noodles
), filled with shrimp, pork, beef, vegetables, or other ingredients. Sweet soy sauce
is poured over the dish upon serving. The rice noodle is also known as chee cheong fun where chee cheong means pig intestine, and fun means noodle; this is because the noodle resembles the small intestine of a pig.
and 1/3 cup tapioca
or glutinous rice flour and water, this recipe will scale well as long as the ratio of flours and water remain the same. The combination of both types of flour and water should be a consistency of heavy cream. The rice flour serves as the bulk and flavor of rice, the tapioca gives the elasticity and springiness, therefore it should never crumble nor being too chewy. It should never have the al dente
texture as with Italian pasta
.
This liquid mixture is poured into a specially made flat pan with holes (similar to a flat colander). Commercial restaurants use instead special over-sized steamers that are lined with a steam permeable cloth. The noodle mixture is steamed in the pan from the bottom up to produce the square rice noodle sheets. The thickness of the noodle should be very thin (roughly about ⅛ thickness), never thick, or it will have a gummy texture.
Once the liquid mixture is ladled and set, the chef can add a filling before the noodle is fully cooked. As the noodle is cooking, it will start to set around the filling and take hold without falling out when transferring from steamer to dish. After steaming for several minutes, the entire freshly steamed noodle is melded onto the cloth thereby the necessity to be scraped off with a scraper and onto a usually a metal table surface with a thin coat of oil to prevent sticking. The resulting freshly made noodle is lightly folded about three times. The resulting size is usually anywhere from 5-7 inches long by 3 inches wide. Traditionally, the noodles are usually finished off by adding a warm sweetened soy sauce
just before serving to the customer's table.
Two common Cantonese words are typically used to describe a well-made rice noodle roll: "Haung" – meaning: good aroma. "Whaat" – meaning: smooth or slippery. The actual noodle by itself doesn't have much taste, it is just as bland as plain white steamed rice. The fillings and the sauce that accompanies it provides the bulk of the flavor. Traditional fillings are marinated fresh shrimp
, beef
, or pork
.
Home made version: Avoid using round pans, the rolled rice noodles won't look uniform nor presentable. The sheets are done when they start to "bubble" after about 3-4 minutes covered tightly and under heavy steam. During steaming, any addition of meats or fillings should be added about 30 seconds after the mixture is poured in a greased "non stick" pan to let the noodle to set a bit, otherwise the fillings will settle to the bottom of the pan and separate and will tear the noodle when folding. Chee cheong fun – Cantonese\Hong Kong style is usually lightly folded (about 2 inches wide and about 4-6 inches long) when there is a filling inside, resulting in a much more pleasing look rather than a rolled up as a fruit roll up.
As mentioned earlier, presentation is very important when serving dim sum
. The noodle, when fully cooked, should be slightly transparent to slightly reveal the filling. If the edges after folding are not lined up then the edges are to be cut to get that even look, similar to getting the outer crust cut off a sandwich. The rice noodle roll is generally served in "threes" and usually scored to reveal the filling inside. Most other countries will roll them plain with no filling inside and instead serve them with toppings and a heavy\thick sauce on top. The rice noodle roll is always served hot and fresh and accompanied with a splash of plain or flavored (fried shallot
) oil to give it a nice sheen and aroma with a generous amount of warm sweet soy sauce added right before serving. Most establishments will have a slightly different flavor of sweet soy sauce such as an addition of hoisin sauce
.
. The most common types traditionally offered as part of dim sum cuisine are:
Other modern varieties that may be offered include:
. It is a crêpe
-like roll made from a thin, wide sheet of rice noodle (similar to Shahe fen
) that can be filled with ground pork
and other ingredients. Sides for this dish usually consist of chả lụa (Vietnamese pork sausage) and bean sprouts, while the dipping sauce is called nước chấm. Sometimes, a drop of cà cuống
, which is the essence of a giant water bug, Lethocerus indicus, is added to the nước chấm for extra flavor, although this ingredient is scarce and quite expensive.
. The popular Malaysian Penang version uses a shrimp paste
called hae ko which is also black and sweet. Others prefer specially-made chili sauce or mix the two together. Chee cheong fun is a popular breakfast food in Singapore and Malaysia. Chee cheong fun is frequently served in kopitiams and Chinese restaurants.
.
Cantonese cuisine
Cantonese cuisine comes from Guangdong Province in southern China and is one of 8 superdivisions of Chinese cuisine. Its prominence outside China is due to the great numbers of early emigrants from Guangdong. Cantonese chefs are highly sought after throughout the country...
dish from southern China and Hong Kong
Cuisine of Hong Kong
Hong Kong cuisine is influenced by Cantonese cuisine and parts of non-Cantonese-speaking China , Western world, Japan, and Southeast Asia, due to Hong Kong's past as a British colony and long history of being an international city of commerce...
, commonly served as a variety of dim sum
Dim sum
Dim sum refers to a style of Chinese food prepared as small bite-sized or individual portions of food traditionally served in small steamer baskets or on small plates...
. It is a thin roll made from a wide strip of shahe fen
Shahe fen
Shahe fen or he fen is a type of wide Chinese noodle made from rice.-Names:While shahe fen and he fen are transliterations based on Mandarin, there are numerous other transliterations based on Cantonese, which include ho fen, hofen, ho-fen, ho fun, ho-fun, hofoen , hor fun, hor...
(rice noodles
Rice noodles
Rice noodles are noodles that are made from rice. Their principal ingredients are rice flour and water. However, sometimes other ingredients such as tapioca or corn starch are also added in order to improve the transparency or increase the gelatinous and chewy texture of the noodles.Rice noodles...
), filled with shrimp, pork, beef, vegetables, or other ingredients. Sweet soy sauce
Soy sauce
Soy sauce is a condiment produced by fermenting soybeans with Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae molds, along with water and salt...
is poured over the dish upon serving. The rice noodle is also known as chee cheong fun where chee cheong means pig intestine, and fun means noodle; this is because the noodle resembles the small intestine of a pig.
Preparation
The rice noodle sheets are made from a viscous mixture of 1 cup of rice flourRice flour
Rice flour is a form of flour made from finely milled rice. It is distinct from rice starch, which is usually produced by steeping rice in lye....
and 1/3 cup tapioca
Tapioca
Tapioca is a starch extracted Manihot esculenta. This species, native to the Amazon, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and most of the West Indies, is now cultivated worldwide and has many names, including cassava, manioc, aipim,...
or glutinous rice flour and water, this recipe will scale well as long as the ratio of flours and water remain the same. The combination of both types of flour and water should be a consistency of heavy cream. The rice flour serves as the bulk and flavor of rice, the tapioca gives the elasticity and springiness, therefore it should never crumble nor being too chewy. It should never have the al dente
Al dente
In cooking, the Italian expression al dente describes pasta and rice or beansthat have been cooked so as to be firm but not hard. "Al dente" also describes vegetables that are cooked to the "tender crisp" phase - still offering resistance to the bite, but cooked through...
texture as with Italian pasta
Pasta
Pasta is a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine, now of worldwide renown. It takes the form of unleavened dough, made in Italy, mostly of durum wheat , water and sometimes eggs. Pasta comes in a variety of different shapes that serve for both decoration and to act as a carrier for the...
.
This liquid mixture is poured into a specially made flat pan with holes (similar to a flat colander). Commercial restaurants use instead special over-sized steamers that are lined with a steam permeable cloth. The noodle mixture is steamed in the pan from the bottom up to produce the square rice noodle sheets. The thickness of the noodle should be very thin (roughly about ⅛ thickness), never thick, or it will have a gummy texture.
Once the liquid mixture is ladled and set, the chef can add a filling before the noodle is fully cooked. As the noodle is cooking, it will start to set around the filling and take hold without falling out when transferring from steamer to dish. After steaming for several minutes, the entire freshly steamed noodle is melded onto the cloth thereby the necessity to be scraped off with a scraper and onto a usually a metal table surface with a thin coat of oil to prevent sticking. The resulting freshly made noodle is lightly folded about three times. The resulting size is usually anywhere from 5-7 inches long by 3 inches wide. Traditionally, the noodles are usually finished off by adding a warm sweetened soy sauce
Soy sauce
Soy sauce is a condiment produced by fermenting soybeans with Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae molds, along with water and salt...
just before serving to the customer's table.
Two common Cantonese words are typically used to describe a well-made rice noodle roll: "Haung" – meaning: good aroma. "Whaat" – meaning: smooth or slippery. The actual noodle by itself doesn't have much taste, it is just as bland as plain white steamed rice. The fillings and the sauce that accompanies it provides the bulk of the flavor. Traditional fillings are marinated fresh shrimp
Shrimp
Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...
, beef
Beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...
, or pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
.
Home made version: Avoid using round pans, the rolled rice noodles won't look uniform nor presentable. The sheets are done when they start to "bubble" after about 3-4 minutes covered tightly and under heavy steam. During steaming, any addition of meats or fillings should be added about 30 seconds after the mixture is poured in a greased "non stick" pan to let the noodle to set a bit, otherwise the fillings will settle to the bottom of the pan and separate and will tear the noodle when folding. Chee cheong fun – Cantonese\Hong Kong style is usually lightly folded (about 2 inches wide and about 4-6 inches long) when there is a filling inside, resulting in a much more pleasing look rather than a rolled up as a fruit roll up.
As mentioned earlier, presentation is very important when serving dim sum
Dim sum
Dim sum refers to a style of Chinese food prepared as small bite-sized or individual portions of food traditionally served in small steamer baskets or on small plates...
. The noodle, when fully cooked, should be slightly transparent to slightly reveal the filling. If the edges after folding are not lined up then the edges are to be cut to get that even look, similar to getting the outer crust cut off a sandwich. The rice noodle roll is generally served in "threes" and usually scored to reveal the filling inside. Most other countries will roll them plain with no filling inside and instead serve them with toppings and a heavy\thick sauce on top. The rice noodle roll is always served hot and fresh and accompanied with a splash of plain or flavored (fried shallot
Shallot
The shallot is the botanical variety of Allium cepa to which the multiplier onion also belongs. It was formerly classified as the species A. ascalonicum, a name now considered a synonym of the correct name...
) oil to give it a nice sheen and aroma with a generous amount of warm sweet soy sauce added right before serving. Most establishments will have a slightly different flavor of sweet soy sauce such as an addition of hoisin sauce
Hoisin sauce
Hoisin sauce, or haixian sauce, is a Chinese dipping sauce. The word hoisin is a romanization of the Chinese word for seafood "" as pronounced in Cantonese.-Ingredients:...
.
Cantonese cuisine
In Cantonese cuisine, rice noodle roll is most often served in dim sumDim sum
Dim sum refers to a style of Chinese food prepared as small bite-sized or individual portions of food traditionally served in small steamer baskets or on small plates...
. The most common types traditionally offered as part of dim sum cuisine are:
- Rice noodle roll with lightly marinated shrimp (蝦腸; Cantonese: haa1 coeng4)
- Rice noodle roll with beef -usually ground beef with heavy addition of corn starch as filler and promote tenderness(牛肉腸; Cantonese: ngau4 juk6 coeng4)
- Rice noodle roll with dried shrimpDried shrimpDried shrimp are shrimp that have been sun dried and shrunk to a thumbnail size. They are used in many Asian cuisines, imparting a unique umami taste. A handful of shrimp is generally used for dishes...
(蝦米腸; Cantonese: haa1 mai5 coeng4) - Rice noodle roll with char siuChar siuChar siu , otherwise known as barbecued meat in China or Chinese-flavored barbecued meat outside China, is a popular way to flavor and prepare pork in Cantonese cuisine. It is classified as a type of siu mei, Cantonese roasted meat...
(叉燒腸; Cantonese: cha1 siu1 coeng4)
- Rice noodle roll with chicken and bitter melonBitter melonMomordica charantia, called bitter melon or bitter gourd in English, is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae, widely grown in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean for its edible fruit, which is among the most bitter of all fruits...
- Rice noodle roll with conpoyConpoyConpoy or dried scallop is a type of dried seafood product made from the adductor muscle of scallops. The smell of conpoy is marine, pungent, and reminiscent of certain salt-cured meats. Its taste is rich and umami due to its high content of various free amino acids, such as glycine, alanine, and...
and pea shoot - Rice noodle roll with fish
- Rice noodle roll with youtiao also known as zhaliangZhaliangZhaliang is a kind of food in Cantonese cuisine of China. It is made by tightly wrapping rice noodle roll around youtiao . It is most popular in the Guangdong province of southern China, as well as in Hong Kong....
Vietnamese cuisine
In Vietnamese cuisine, there is a similar dish called bánh cuốn, and it is mostly eaten for breakfastBreakfast
Breakfast is the first meal taken after rising from a night's sleep, most often eaten in the early morning before undertaking the day's work...
. It is a crêpe
Crêpe
A crêpe or crepe , is a type of very thin pancake, usually made from wheat flour or buckwheat flour . The word is of French origin, deriving from the Latin crispa, meaning "curled". While crêpes originate from Brittany, a region in the northwest of France, their consumption is widespread in France...
-like roll made from a thin, wide sheet of rice noodle (similar to Shahe fen
Shahe fen
Shahe fen or he fen is a type of wide Chinese noodle made from rice.-Names:While shahe fen and he fen are transliterations based on Mandarin, there are numerous other transliterations based on Cantonese, which include ho fen, hofen, ho-fen, ho fun, ho-fun, hofoen , hor fun, hor...
) that can be filled with ground pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
and other ingredients. Sides for this dish usually consist of chả lụa (Vietnamese pork sausage) and bean sprouts, while the dipping sauce is called nước chấm. Sometimes, a drop of cà cuống
Ca cuong
Lethocerus indicus is a giant water bug in the family Belostomatidae, native to Southeast Asia. It was originally described as Belostoma indicum but is no longer placed in that genus. It is well-known as an edible species, with a number of different regional cuisines preparing it in different manners...
, which is the essence of a giant water bug, Lethocerus indicus, is added to the nước chấm for extra flavor, although this ingredient is scarce and quite expensive.
Southeast Asian cuisine
In Singapore and Malaysian cuisine, In Malaysia, many people prefer serving chee cheong fun with a kind of black sweet sauce called (甜酱, timzheong). It is likely a variation of hoisin sauceHoisin sauce
Hoisin sauce, or haixian sauce, is a Chinese dipping sauce. The word hoisin is a romanization of the Chinese word for seafood "" as pronounced in Cantonese.-Ingredients:...
. The popular Malaysian Penang version uses a shrimp paste
Shrimp paste
Shrimp paste or shrimp sauce, is a common ingredient used in Southeast Asian and Southern Chinese cuisine. It is known as terasi in Indonesian, ngapi in Burmese, kapi in Thai, Khmer and Lao language, belacan in Malay, mắm ruốc, mắm tép and mắm tôm in...
called hae ko which is also black and sweet. Others prefer specially-made chili sauce or mix the two together. Chee cheong fun is a popular breakfast food in Singapore and Malaysia. Chee cheong fun is frequently served in kopitiams and Chinese restaurants.
Other variations
There is another kind of food which is similar to chee cheong fun, called laicheong (拉腸) in Cantonese. This food is popular in GuangzhouGuangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
.
See also
- Shahe fenShahe fenShahe fen or he fen is a type of wide Chinese noodle made from rice.-Names:While shahe fen and he fen are transliterations based on Mandarin, there are numerous other transliterations based on Cantonese, which include ho fen, hofen, ho-fen, ho fun, ho-fun, hofoen , hor fun, hor...
- Bánh cuốn
- ZhaliangZhaliangZhaliang is a kind of food in Cantonese cuisine of China. It is made by tightly wrapping rice noodle roll around youtiao . It is most popular in the Guangdong province of southern China, as well as in Hong Kong....