Tim Chin is a professional cook and writer who has contributed to Serious Eats and America’s Test Kitchen. A graduate of The International Culinary Center, Tim has cooked at restaurants in New York and Boston, working at Rouge Tomate, Northern Spy, and BiSq.

Tim Chin

Cheung fun is a simple and delicious dish of slippery and supple wide rice noodle rolls. It basically comes in two forms; if you’ve had dim sum, you’ve probably had the more refined version, delicate rice noodle sheets wrapped around fillings of <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/recipes/shrimp-cheung-fun">succulent shrimp</a> or <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/recipes/beef-cheung-fun">minced beef</a>. But there’s a street-food version—this one—and it might just be the best street food you’ve never had. Instead of neat rice roll parcels, street food-style cheung fun is more chaotic, with thicker rice noodle sheets gathered up in bunches, dressed with flavorful sauces, condiments, and garnishes. Both versions hinge on the quality of the rice noodle rolls, which, while similar to <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/recipes/hor-fun-noodles">hor fun noodles</a>, are thinner, more delicate, more translucent, and silkier—perfect for fillings and sauces. (The street food-style cheung fun is a little thicker than the ones you’ll find in the steam carts at a dim sum parlor.) Our cheung fun batter is made with a blend of rice flour and tapioca starch, which improves elasticity, shine, and clarity. The hydration is high enough that you can pour thin sheets without the batter breaking or becoming gummy. And once you’ve got the process down, these rice rolls are infinitely customizable.

Silky Cheung Fun (Chinese Rice Rolls)