Shrimp Rice Rolls (xia chang)
Delicate, soft, and chewy rice shrimp rice rolls. These are rice noodles filled with flavorful shrimp, drizzled with a sweet and savory umami sauce. Growing up in my household, we never went to fancy restaurants. Instead, our Sunday dining tradition typically took us to casual Chinese spots in Flushing. Occasionally, on Saturday mornings while my mom was working, my dad would bring my sister and me to dim sum, followed by a movie outing. My parents knew how much I loved shrimp rice rolls, so much so that they would always order an extra one just for me. As I enjoy these shrimp rice rolls, they bring back memories of the good times with my family, where every bite was filled with love and togetherness.
What is a rice roll?
Rice rolls (肠粉, cháng fěn, cheong fun, cheung fun, rice noodles) are a type of noodle dish originating from Hong Kong. They’re made from a mixture of specialty flours and then steamed. This gives them a soft, delicate, and light texture. These noodles are versatile and can be served in multiple ways. They can be filled with dried shrimp, scrambled eggs, beef, fresh shrimp, or scallions. It is a dish commonly eaten as a snack, appetizer, for breakfast, or lunch.
At Chinatown in New York rice noodles are a specialty dish that is sold at certain bakeries, restaurants or food carts. Rice rolls are typically prepared using a specialized rice roll steamer. This appliance, typically made of stainless steel, includes multiple flat rectangular or square trays. To begin, a thin layer of the rice noodle mixture, resembling milk, is remixed and poured onto the tray to create a thin layer. The steamer makes it easy to steam multiple trays at once and cooks the noodles evenly. The filling is then added or it can be left plain before rolling it up. Finally, it’s topped with sauces such as hoisin, soy sauce-based sauces, sesame paste, peanut sauce, or sriracha.
What are shrimp rice rolls?
Shrimp rice rolls (xiā cháng, 虾肠) are most commonly found at dim sum restaurants. They consist of marinated shrimp flavored with white pepper powder and sesame oil, wrapped in rice roll noodles. They have a good combination of textures, with succulent tender shrimp wrapped around delicate, soft, and chewy rice noodles. While the rice roll itself has a delicate flavor, the majority of the taste comes from the sauce, which is sweet, savory, and rich in umami.
Why This Recipe Works
Rice rolls are usually made using a special rice roll steamer. This stainless steel machine has multiple flat trays, perfect for steaming lots of rolls at once. It’s super handy for busy restaurants that need to churn out tons of orders. Personally, it is not a practical appliance to have in my kitchen because rice rolls are not something that I am eating multiple times a week. In my recipe, I’ve got a simpler way to make rice noodles at home, no fancy gadgets needed. It’s a straightforward method that anyone can tackle, whether you’re an expert cook or new to cooking.
Special Ingredients
Which ingredients are needed to make rice rolls?
Rice rolls are made up of specialty flours that contribute to taste, structure, and translucent look. You can find them in the dry pantry aisle at the Chinese grocery store. Please don’t make substitutions!
- Rice flour
- Potato starch
- Cornstarch
- Wheat starch
- Filtered water
- Neutral oil
What is rice flour?
If you’ve had Vietnamese, Chinese, or Thai food, you’ve most likely have had noodles made from rice flour before. Rice flour is made out of rice, milled into a fine white powder. Please note the this item is very different from glutinous rice flour, sometimes called sweet rice flour, which is made from sticky rice grains. When cooked, it transforms into a smooth, soft, and bouncy texture. The rice flour that I use the most often to make rice rolls is a Thai one. You may purchase rice flour from the pantry aisle section of your Chinese grocery store. It is generally sold for for less than $3 per bag. If you have extra bags of rice flour left over, you can also use it with my Turnip Cake (Luobo Gao) or Crystal Shrimp Dumplings (Har Gow) recipes.
What is potato starch?
Potato starch is made from the starches that is extracted from high starch varieties of potatoes. It’s a bit different from corn starch, which has a slightly off-white color. It looks like a fine white powder. This stuff is full of carbohydrates and can soak up a lot of liquid. In Chinese cooking, potato starch is used for its properties that contribute to texture. It’s often used to thicken up soups or sauces without messing with the flavor. When it comes to making rice rolls, potato starch is like the glue that holds everything together. It gives rice noodles that smooth, slightly chewy texture we love, and it helps thicken up the batter so we can shape it into rolls.
You may purchase potato starch from the pantry section of your Chinese grocery store for less than $3 per bag. It’s important to note that Chinese groceries also sell Sweet Potato Starch. Although they’re similar, they have slight differences. Be sure to stick with the regular potato starch.
What is wheat starch?
Wheat starch looks like a fine white powder that comes from grains of wheat. It is a common ingredient in dim sum. Wheat starch is different from wheat flour, as it contains mainly starch and very little protein. This is why it appears different from all-purpose flour, which typically has an off-white color and may contain specks of wheat bran. You may find wheat starch from the pantry section of your Chinese grocery store for less than $3 per bag.
When it comes to making rice rolls, wheat starch gives rice noodles that smooth, slightly chewy texture, and it helps thicken up the batter so we can shape it into rolls. If you have extra wheat starch, you may also use it to create some other recipes such as Turnip Cake (Luobo Gao), Nian Gao (Brown Sugar Rice Cake), Taro Dumpling (Wu Gok, Yu Jiao), and Shrimp Dumplings (Har Gow).
Special Equipment
What equipment is needed to make rice rolls at home?
To prepare rice rolls, you will need to gather a few essential items: a short wire steaming rack, a square or rectangular ceramic glazed plate, a brush for applying a thin layer of oil, a wide and tall pan to accommodate the homemade steaming setup, and a silicone spatula for rolling.
Which pan is needed?
To start, you’ll require a cooking vessel with a lid that is both wide and tall enough to accommodate both the steaming rack, the plate it rests on. You’ll need to make sure that the lid can fully close for adequate steaming. I use a 4.5 quart Saute Pan from Caraway which is 12-inches in diameter. The ceramic-coated cookware and heavy lid was able to provide the perfect insulation for a strong steam.
12-Inch non-toxic and non-stick Caraway saute pan equipped with a short circular wire rack and filled with water.
Which steaming rack is needed?
Secondly, you will need a round or rectangular wire rack (or iron roasting rack) with at least 1/2-inch to 1-inch of height. This serves as a little bridge which allows water to boil beneath without bubbling up and splashing onto the food that you’re steaming. This rack is important for protecting your cookware and also, preventing the dilution of the flavors in your food. You don’t want to end up with a watery fish. This wire rack also doubles as a cooling rack for when you have hot plates. I found a variety of racks at my local Chinese grocery store. I purchased the one that had the lowest height and smallest width.
Which plate is needed?
Finally, you’ll require a plate—either square or rectangular. Choose a glazed plate, distinguished by its smooth coating applied to the surface, which works best for making rice rolls. Unlike unglazed plates, which can absorb moisture and flavors from food, glazed plates also prevent sticking. It should also be narrow enough to fit comfortably inside your sauté pan, which has a diameter slightly smaller than that of the pan itself. The appropriately sized plate allows you to remove it easily when necessary and ensures safe handling. By leaving some space around the plate, steam can escape freely and circulate around the food.
Shrimp Rice Rolls (xiā cháng)
Equipment
- 1 12-inch pan or wok with lid
- 1 Steaming rack
- 10 x 5-inch rectangular plate
- 1 Small mixing bowl
- 1 Medium Mixing Bowl
- Brush
- 1 Wide silicone spatula
- Spatula
Ingredients
Shrimp
- 18 pieces (250 g or 8 oz) peeled and deveined shrimp defrosted
- 2 tsp (5 g) sesame oil
- 1 tsp (4 g) sugar
- 1 tsp (3 g) cornstarch
- 1/8 tsp (<1 g) white pepper powder
- 1/8 tsp (<1 g) fine sea salt
Sauce
- 0.4 cups (100 mL) filtered water
- 2 tbsp (30 g) sugar
- 1 tbsp (19 g) oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp (15 g) light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp (15 g) dark soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp (2 g) chicken flavored bouillon powder
- 1 tsp (5 g) pure sesame oil
Rice rolls
- 3/4 cup (75 g) rice flour
- 1/4 cup (25 g) potato starch
- 3 tbsp and 1 tsp (20 g) cornstarch
- 2 tbsp and 1 tsp (15 g) wheat starch
- 1 tbsp and 2 tbsp (270 mL) filtered water
- 2 tbsp (30 g) neutral oil for brushing onto plate
Instructions
Shrimp
- Remove the shells from the tails
- In a bowl, combine the shrimp with sesame oil, sugar, white pepper, corn starch, and sea salt.
Sauce
- In a separate bowl, mix the water, sugar, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, chicken bouillon, and sesame oil.
Prep
- Set a 12” pan over high heat on the stove. Add a steaming rack and pour water in until it reaches halfway up.
- Place a 10 x 5” rectangular plate on top of the rack.
Rice Noodle
- In another bowl combine the rice flour, potato starch, cornstarch, wheat starch, and water. The mixture should look like milk.
Cook
- Brush the plate well with a layer of oil. Pour a little less than 1/4 cup of the rice noodle batter onto the plate. Use scraping motions to fill out the edges.
- Cover with a lid and steam for 3 mins.
- Turn off the heat. Add 2 pieces of marinated shrimp at the 3/4 segment of the rice noodle. Use spatulas to roll the noodle into a 4 x 1.5” rectangle.
- Cover with a lid and set the stove to high heat. Steam for 2-3 mins.
- Plate. Mix the noodle batter well and repeat.
- Drizzle with sauce and serve hot.
Notes
– Start rolling the noodle when the shrimp are still raw. Once steamed, they release moisture, which makes wrapping more tricky.
2 Comments