Steamed Cheung Fun with dried shrimps and spring onion

Cheung Fun is one of my favorite Cantonese dishes in Chinese restaurants.  It is the steamed rice rolls. There are different flavors of cheung fun, they may include fillings, like fresh shrimps, BBQ pork (Cha Siu), minced beef and; dried shrimps and spring onions.  They are either served as dim sum in Chinese restaurants or a snack (street food) in local food stalls in Hong Kong.

I took a dim sum class and learned how to make this dish four months ago.  The class teacher is a chef in a Chinese restaurant in London.  I have tried twice and modified the recipe.  I am so excited about making this.  If you like cheung fun, try this recipe and add different fillings you like inside.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serve: 2-3

Ingredients:

-         160g rice flour

-         50g wheat starch

-         50g corn flour

-         650 ml water

-         2 tbsp vegetable oil

-         ⅛ tsp salt

-         35g dried shrimp (soaked and minced)

-         1 spring onion (green part, finely sliced)

-         1 tsp white sesame seeds

Tools:

-         2 square non-stick cake tins (19cm x 19 cm)

-         Rubber spatula / scrapper

Sweet Soy Sauce:

-         12 tbsp hot water

-         2 tbsp brown sugar

-         1 tbsp light soy sauce

-          

-         1 tbsp dark soy sauce

-         1 tsp sesame oil

Method:

1.	In a big mixing bowl, add rice flour, wheat starch, corn flour and salt and mix all well.  Sieve the flour mixture.  In the meantime, add ½ tbsp oil and water into the flour mixture and stir it well to become a silky batter.  Set aside for about 20 minutes.
2.	Pre-heat the oven at 160°c and toast the white sesame seeds for 6 minutes.
3.	In a small mixing bowl, add hot water and sugar and stir it well until the sugar dissolved.  Then add dark soy sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil, stir it well.
4.	Steam the minced dried shrimp for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.
5.	Boil water in a wok and place a rack in it.  Brush some vegetable oil in a square cake tin.  Put the tin on the rack, cover and heat it for 2 minutes over high heat.
6.	Stir the batter well and pour ¼ cup of it evenly in the tin. Swirl the batter evenly around the tin in order to coat the bottom of the entire tin.  Once it is set, add 1 tsp dried shrimp and 1 tsp spring onion evenly all over the top of the batter.  Cover and steam for 2 minutes.
7.	Use a spatula to release the edge of one side and roll it from one side to another side into a roll.  Set the roll aside on a serving plate.
8.	Repeat the step 5-7 until use up all the batter, dried shrimps and spring onion.  Clean the tin as necessary and re-grease the tin between uses.   Remember to stir the batter well every time before pouring it into the tin.
9.	Cut each roll into 5-6 pieces.  Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds on the steamed cheung fun.  Pour the sweet soy sauce over the rolls and ready to serve.