Some people suggest that this rice roll (in Chinese 粢飯) is originated in Shanghai and famed as a breakfast item usually served with soy milk. Yet it seems to me that it is more popular in Hong Kong and in Taipei, where I may buy it (which sometimes are even made to order) during or after lunch.
To get ready for making this, I witnessed more efforts from my feet than from my hands. What I mean is, I was shopping at different places for the ingredients needed for this recipe.
I bought meat floss from a specialty store selling various kinds of Taiwanese foods; I got the Sichuan pickled mustard from a grocery store. Then I picked a bag of sticky rice from a supermarket and, on the day I was ready for cooking this, I walked to one of the nearest eateries for porridge (aka congee) where I took away one Chinese cruller.
But you don’t need to behave like me; I was too particular about getting the brands I preferred or more accurately finding excuses to shop around and exercise my legs. The pork floss, pickled mustard and sticky rice in effect can all be found in sizable supermarkets here.
- Ingredients
- Yields 2 rice rolls
- 1 Chinese cruller (油條 or 油炸鬼)
- 150g sticky rice aka glutinous rice or sweet rice
- (makes ~ 2 cups cooked rice)
- 3 tbsp finely diced Sichun pickled mustard (四川榨菜)
- 3 tbsp pork floss or fish floss or any meat floss
Method
Rinse, soak, cook (or steam) sticky rice according to instructions on package.
Rinse pickled mustard, soak it in water for about half an hour, strain dry, slice out needed amount and finely dice it. Then briefly sauté the diced mustard with a dash of sesame oil. You may omit this step by buying readily prepared pickled mustard, which is usually shredded and in vacuum packed.
Tear the cruller into two sticks lengthwise along the middle groove and cut out a section of about 10cm long. Because my cruller is pretty thick, I half it further lengthwise.
Lay a piece of cling wrap large enough to handle your rice roll on a flat plate.
Spread about 1 cup of cooked sticky rice on the cling wrap and flatten it evenly and with a surface enough for wrapping the fillings.
Place the cruller near one edge, then top it with mustard and meat floss. With the help of the cling wrap, roll up rice from the end with the fillings. Wrap it as tight as possible while rolling. Best to serve it warm. Enjoy!
Tip
Soaking hours for different types of sticky rice varies. As a general rule, it requires no less than a couple of hours. Here is the directions I have on my sticky rice package, “Place sweet rice in colander or sieve; wash under cold running water, stirring with hand until water is almost clear. Place sweet rice in bowl; cover with fresh water. Let stand 12 hours or overnight. Drain. Spread sweet rice in thin, even layer in colander, sieve or steam rack lined with cheesecloth. Cook covered, over rapidly boiling water 25 minutes. Steam 20 to 25 minutes longer, or until tender and translucent. (And add extra boiling water to steamer pan if necessary.)”
If you own a rice cooker, use it (and following its directions on manual) to cook the sticky rice is also a nice and convenient alternative.
No worries if the only Chinese crullers you could access are packaged rather than fresh. Just reheat it like you would prepare a toast, the cruller will turn crisp again.
Having made two rice rolls, there should be some leftovers of the cruller. You may consider slicing it crosswise like thin discs and toasting them in toaster or oven and add them to soy milk, beancurd sweet soup or even porridge.
- Category: Featured . Rice and Grain .
- 46 comments
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Ain’t they look lovely! Those used to be my favourite breakfast….somehow my stomach can’t take sticky rice as much as I wish….
Love to have such a nice rice roll for my lunch. Shopping in Hong Kong is quite daunting, but as you said, it’s a good exercise.
How do you eat this with soy milk? Do you dip the roll in soy milk?
@pigpigscorner,
I’m so glad that you ask. The rice roll is usually served with soy milk because many of us prefer to have a drink to go side by side with it, more or less like dim sum with tea. Dipping the roll in soy milk? I’m afraid not.
oh wow me being a huge rice junkie this will be perfect alternative for my regular rice dish. I don’t mind the leg work if it is this yummy.
This is lovely! I am sure its simplicity gives an elegant taste!
I bet I will like this. I’m a big fan of Chinese long donut (that is what the Canada’s grocery calls for).
I have to try this! I love it … I did have something like that when I was in Shanghai.
Like sushi roll, hehe…
I have never seen those before, but they look indeed delicious! I can imagine having them for breakfast :)!
This is something I am not so familiar with but looks so delicious. I have to try it next time I’m in HK 😉
I agree with you. I will spend more time looking for those ingredients than preparing the rolls. :p
I love eating Chinese cruller. What a nice way of making sticky rice rolls.
I love pork floss. When I lived in Taiwan there was a street vendor near Gonggwan and an old man was selling the dish called “Pantuwan”( I bet I spelled it wrong) and this is just like it. I loved it and every time I pass by that street I always bought some. So good.
Thanks for sharing. It brought me back the memory.
@Beyond kimchee,
I’m more than happy to share the foods I love.
I love sticky rice..hehe and yes typically with the soy milk. Now I can try making them at home 🙂 thanks for the recipe.
Try putting some sugar in it before wrapping it up! 🙂 I remember eating these when I was going up in Shanghai
I meant GROWING UP, haha my bad
@CE,
Thank you! Let me try it out next time.
Wow, I’ve go to try these, thanks.
I love this … gotta try it myself one day. thanks …
I absolutely adore sticky rice . . . I just bought some for the first time and can’t wait to cook it up.
in Chinatown in New York City they sell the Chinese crullers wrapped in a rice crepe, but I’ve never seen anything like your version before.
nice one…i love this xx
This is my childhood favorite food. If I was younger I would eat as many as I like, but now that I know how much fat is in the Chinese cruller, I’m too scared to indulge. Great tutorial, I love the cross section of the rice rolls
O…….I was introduced to this by a friend’s grandma who’s a Shanghainese! I absolutely adore it! My son will sure buy it for me whenever he visits HK.
Besides a shop in CauseBay, where else can I get it in HK?
@LH59,
Previously, I like the one from上海真真豆漿大王 (they only show their name in Chinese) which is an old-styled, small eatery serving Shanghainese noodles and snacks. Their sticky rice rolls WERE always goods, but recently it seems that their quality is not that consistent. Although this may not be the answer you expect, I still suggest that you have it homemade.
To try your luck, here is the address,
48 Wuhu Street, Hunghom, Kowloon (紅磡蕪湖街48號地下)
hi taste, would love to try making this one day..if i just use the normal glutinuous rice, do i have to put in sugar, is this supposed to be sweet?
@Lena,
The white glutinous rice I used is an ordinary one. It is also called sticky rice because it is sticky after cooked. Yet it is tasteless itself though some also call it sweet rice probably due to its popular usage in desserts. The recipe here is for making a savory rice roll as the pickled mustard and meat floss both taste salty. I did not any sugar.
Have fun cooking and enjoy!
thanks..will take note of that..hope that i will have luck in rolling them up.
Amazing amazing, it’s pretty straightforward too, might have to prep some of these to have as breakfast, seriously missing HK right now. Thanks again for another brilliant recipe!
Juz so happened I tried it few weeks back. Easy to make but the chinese crullers that I got from my hometown is below par! I used vegetarian meat floss which is also a no no! Juz remind anyone who wants to try…….pls do be generous with the sichuan pickled mustard! And don’t forget to use real meat floss!!!!
@Lucy L,
Thanks! Enjoy and have fun cooking!
@ LH59,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Hope you would get the right ingredients next time and enjoy!
Some Sichuan pickled mustard might be a bit salty, so doing a taste test would be a nice idea before being generous with it.
[…] case you don’t see the Sichuan mustard in shreds, simply get one whole of it and do some slicing. Or, for variation, you may consider substituting it with julienned cloud […]
Hi, May i know the address of the shop at causeway bay selling this??
@Denise,
If you don’t see it, am afraid it is moved or closed due to the soaring rent. There was one on Jardines Crescent.
Hi,
thanks for your reply. I have not been there before. My mother in law went there a few years ago. As we will be going to hongkong next month, she would like to have it again. How is the Shanghai zhen zhen soy king you mentioned above? is the sticky rice same as the one at causeway bay – Jardines Crescent??
@Denise,
上海真真’s rice rolls used to suit my taste more (be fair, I’ve not visited the one in Causeway Bay for fairly long). But as I said, 真真’s quality has become inconsistent recently.
Hi, I’d like to try this dish but I made a mistake and bought pickled mustard greens instead of the sichuan pickled mustard. May I use it though ?
@Helena,
Hi! Although I love the sour taste of pickled mustard green (ham suen choy 咸酸菜), I’m afraid I’d not replace it for the Sichuan mustard in this recipe.
Hi ! There’s one more thing I wanted to ask about this recipe : do you think the rolls could be reheated, and in which way, if not eaten the day when they’re made ?
@ Helena: My son packs them from HK for me when he returns. I freeze them and steam them for abt 20mins over a stove or microwave them for abt 4mins. They keep up to almost one month!!!!
@Helena,
I’d steam the sticky rice roll for a couple of minutes until it is heated through. But if possible, especially for your homemade version, eat it fresh while the Chinese cruller is still crisp (see tip above) than softened.
@LH59,
Thanks for sharing your experience.
@ Taste and LH59, thank you very much for your tips ! I think I won’t do it in large quantities, but since I don’t know how filling these rolls are (and if my family will like it), I preferred to ask…
Thanks a lot for paying attention to my concerns and for your helpful tips ! The thing with these rolls is (I know, I’m kind of obsessed with it 🙂 ), the rice layer fell apart and released the filling… Perhaps did it need to be steamed longer ? I stopped when it was cooked through, after 20 minutes. It’s too bad, but it held up though and was so tasty ! It’s really a keeper, and I hope someday my rolls would resemble yours…
By the way, I used my electric stove with my clay pot (I’ve been careful about heating it gradually to avoid the clay to get damaged) to cook three cups chicken ; it took some more time to be ready, but the result was great !
@Helena
I know, you are passionate about this : ). Like you said, you might need to steam the rice longer or soak it longer, or both. The other possible solution is to keep the rice covered after cooked, for about 10 minutes more. You might need some experiments; twenty minutes doesn’t sound enough (or the instructions say so …).
Perhaps, clay pots are originally designed for use over open fire, anyway, congrats on having your Three Cup Chicken successfully done over an electric stove!