Rice noodle roll

Arice noodle roll, also known as asteamed rice rollandcheung fun(Chinese:腸粉), and aslook funnorlook funinHawaii, is aCantonesedish originating fromGuangdong Provinceinsouthern China, commonly served as either a snack, small meal or variety ofdim sum.It is a thin roll made from a wide strip ofshahe fen(rice noodles), filled with shrimp, beef, vegetables, or other ingredients. Seasonedsoy sauce– sometimes withsiu meidrippings – is poured over the dish upon serving. When plain and made without filling, the rice noodle is also known asjyu cheung fun, literally "pork intestine noodle", a reference to its resemblance of a pig's intestines.There is no official recording of the history of rice noodle rolls; most cookbooks claim that it was first made in the 1930s.InGuangzhou, Guangdong Province, people called the dishlaai cheung(lit.'pull intestines') because it is a noodle roll that pulled by hand.
Therice noodlesheets are made from a mixture ofrice flourandtapiocaor glutinous rice flour and water. The mixture has the consistency ofheavy cream. The rice flour provides bulk and flavor, while the tapioca flour gives the noodle elasticity and springiness. The tapioca or glutinous rice flour may be omitted when using rice flour made from certain kinds of aged rice, as chemical changes in the aged rice produce the same texture as the addition of the second starch.
This liquid mixture is poured into a specially made flat pan with holes (similar to a flat colander). Commercial restaurants instead use special oversized 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 noodles are typically very thin (roughly1⁄8thickness).
Once the liquid mixture is ladled and set, fillings such as shrimp or beef may be added 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 sticks to the clothand must be scraped off, usually on to a metal surface with a thin coat of oil to prevent sticking. The resulting noodle is lightly folded about three times. Traditionally, the noodles are finished with the addition of a warm, sweetenedsoy saucejust before serving. Cantonese/Hong Kong–stylecheung funis usually lightly folded when there is filling inside.
The actual noodle by itself has little flavor. The fillings and the soy sauce that accompanies it provides the bulk of the flavor. Traditional fillings are marinated fresh or driedshrimp,beef(heavily mixed with rice flour), orpork, and chopped green onions.
The rice noodle roll is generally served in multiples of three and usually scored to reveal the filling inside. Most other countrieswill roll them plain with no filling inside and instead serve them with toppings and a thick sauce on top. The rice noodle roll is served hot and fresh and accompanied with a splash of plain or flavoured (friedshallot) oil 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 ofhoisin sauce.
In Cantonese cuisine, rice noodle rolls are most often served indim sum. The most common types traditionally offered as part of dim sum cuisine are:
Other modern varieties that may be offered include:
A version ofcheung funnotably absent outside ofGuangzhouis the sliced meat filling variety. This variety is typically found in street side restaurants as a meal in itself, and uses whole meat pieces, typically beef or pork, rather than ground meat. Prior to rolling the crepe, briefly blanched lettuce or romaine is added as part of the filling, giving thecheung funa crunch as well as volume.
While Canton and Hong Kong–style rice rolls emphases on the making of a thin rice sheet,Chaoshanrice roll (Chinese: 潮汕腸粉;Teochew: dio5 suan1 deng5 hung2) puts more emphasis on the sauce and toppings.  Because Chaoshan rice rolls have more fillings, the rice sheet must be thicker in order to hold the fillings.Thick rice sheet is not transparent, which makes the Chaoshan rice rolls taste less smooth than the Canton or Hong Kong–style rice rolls.
There are different varieties ofChaoshanrice rolls depending on which part of Chaoshan it comes from.Amongst them,Puningrice rolls (Chinese: 普寧腸粉;Teochew: Pou2 leng5 deng5 hung2) are the most popular variety of Teochew rice roll.They are typically have fresh minced pork, dry mushrooms, dry shrimps and preserved radishes as filling and have fresh beef, shrimp and/or oyster as toppings.Soup or sauce will be poured on to it before serving.
The Malaysian Penang stylechee cheong funis served with ashrimp pastecalledhae koin the Hokkien dialect andpetis udangin the Malay language.
InIpoh,chee cheong funis mainly served in two ways, the dry or wet versions. In the dry version, it is served with bright red sweet sauce and in most cases, chilli sauce as well as pickled green chilli. In the wet version, it is served with curry with pork rind and long bean or minced meat and shiitake mushroom gravy. Both dry or wet versions are topped with sesame seeds and fried shallots.
Teluk Intan, one of the towns in the state of Perak, has other variations ofchee cheong funthat contain turnips, shallots and deep-fried shrimp.
Chee cheong funis a popular breakfast food in Singapore and Malaysia.Chee cheong funis frequently served inkopitiamsand Chinese restaurants.Chee cheong funcan also be found inBagansiapiapi, a small town inRiau,Indonesia. It is calledtee long panortee cheong panin the Hokkien dialect.Tee long panis served with red chilli sauce, crushed roasted peanuts, fried shallots, and dried shrimp.
InVietnamese cuisine, there is a similar dish calledbánh cuốn, and it is mostly eaten forbreakfast. It is acrêpe-like roll made from a thin, wide sheet ofrice noodle(similar toshahe fen) that can be filled with groundporkand other ingredients. Side dishes usually consist ofchả lụa(Vietnamese pork sausage) andbean sprouts, while the dipping sauce is callednước chấm. Sometimes, a drop ofcà cuống, which is the essence of a giant water bug,Lethocerus indicus, is added to thenước chấmfor extra flavor, although this ingredient is scarce and quite expensive.