When travelling to other places, I always seek out the down-to-earth eateries frequented by locals, as these are the places where one can most easily experience the true flavour of their daily lives. When choosing what to eat, I usually start with breakfast, and rice rolls are one of the most traditional breakfast dishes for Hong Kong people. ‘Cheung fun’ is a general term. Hong Kong people typically eat two types: the first is commonly known as ‘pig’s intestine-style cheung fun’, whilst the other is called ‘bra cheung fun’. Essentially, both types are made from a rice batter prepared by mixing glutinous rice flour with water.
‘Pork rice noodles’ are a firm favourite with the general public
Let’s start with ‘pork intestine rice rolls’. These resemble real pig intestines in appearance, hence their colloquial name. They are most commonly found at roadside stalls during breakfast hours; they are all mass-produced by rice roll factories, with the stallholders collecting the batches and reheating them for sale. As ‘pork intestine rice rolls’ contain no filling, they are also known as ‘vegetarian rice rolls’; in Hong Kong colloquial parlance, ‘vegetarian’ simply means ‘without any filling’. When eaten, it is served with soy sauce, sweet sauce, sesame paste and sesame seeds, and can be bought for as little as eight or ten dollars.
‘Bura Rice Noodles’ – Made to Order
‘Bra’ rice rolls are a dim sum dish that is always available in most Hong Kong restaurants and is made to order. To make rice rolls, first place a large piece of muslin in a preheated steamer, then pour the prepared rice batter onto the muslin to form a thin sheet. If making filled varieties such as beef, prawn or char siu rice rolls, you must quickly spread two rows of filling across the batter, steam it for three to two minutes until thoroughly cooked, then flip the large cloth and the rice sheet together onto the table, remove the muslin, and finally roll the rice sheet into a sausage shape to complete the dish. If you wish to eat plain rice noodle rolls, simply leave them without any filling.
Speciality sauces and soy sauce for rice rolls
The soy sauce specifically used to accompany rice rolls is actually quite a delicate affair; it is certainly not simply a matter of adjusting the flavour with ordinary light soy sauce. First, you must dissolve the sugar in water, then add light and dark soy sauces to adjust the flavour, and finally mix in cooking oil that has been fried with shallots and onions until fragrant; only then will the soy sauce be delicious. As for sweet sauce, sesame paste and chilli sauce, making them from scratch is generally quite a faff. Sweet sauce requires raw marinating and fermentation, whilst sesame paste needs a variety of different ingredients to make, so anyone interested is best off buying them from a Chinese grocery shop or a place that sells rice rolls. Well-known rice roll shops in Hong Kong
#1*He Yitai*The best rice noodle rolls in Hong Kong
Hong Kongers regard He Yitai as serving the best rice rolls in the city. The rice rolls are produced in the restaurant’s own workshop; the staff, a group of middle-aged ladies, remove the rolls one by one from the steamer and skilfully cut them into small pieces, adding the standard sweet sauce, sesame paste and soy sauce, then a sprinkling of sesame seeds to enhance the aroma. You can add more sauce yourself if you like, and those who enjoy a bit of heat will find chilli sauce nearby; it’s a semi-self-service setup.
He Yitai’s rice noodle rolls are snow-white in appearance; they give off a faint scent of rice, and when you take a bite, they don’t turn to mush straight away—instead, they have an incredibly soft, tender and slippery texture. They’re absolutely delicious. Personally, I prefer a little less soy sauce, but with a bit more sesame paste and sesame seeds, as this makes the aroma even more enticing. The price is HK$$6 for four pieces.
Address: Ground Floor, 121 Guilin Street, Sham Shui Po
Tel: +852 2720 0239
Opening hours: 6.30 am to 8.30 am
Average spend per person: HK$10
Other recommendations: soya milk, radish, fish balls
#2 ‘The Number One Rice Roll’ – Recommended by Michelin Tyre Man
Let me introduce a few more well-known Hong Kong rice noodle roll shops to you. First up is ‘First Rice Noodle Roll’ in the Prince Edward district of Kowloon. ‘First Rice Noodle Roll’ was a winner of the 2012 Hong Kong Michelin Guide’s ‘Tyre Man’ recommendation. The shop specialises in braised rice noodle rolls, with wrappers that are thin and smooth, and generously filled. The shop’s signature ‘First Rice Roll’—an original creation that shares its name with the restaurant—is the most well-known, and it is also my personal favourite. The filling consists of minced pork, spring onion and shredded Chinese cabbage, making it incredibly flavourful. The shop also offers a variety of traditional Hong Kong-style rice noodle rolls, as well as newer creations that have gained popularity over the past decade, such as pork liver rolls, shredded duck rolls and fish fillet rolls… and so on. The location is extremely convenient, right next to Exit C2 of Prince Edward MTR Station.
Address: Shop C, Basement, Keelung Building, 373 Prince Edward Street
Tel: +852 2380 7700
Opening hours: 11.00 am to 11.00 pm
Average spend per person: HK$40
Other recommendations: radish cake, steamed rice
#3 ‘Chen Han Ji’ Fresh, Crisp and Tender Ginger-flavoured Pork Liver Sausage
When it comes to pork liver rice rolls, one simply must mention ‘Chen Han Kee’ in Tai Po. Their ‘ginger-infused pork liver rice rolls’ are consistently fresh and crisp, with no unpleasant odour of offal. The steaming is perfectly controlled, and the pork liver is cooked to perfection when served; there are no tough bits left when eaten, and this dish of ‘Ginger-flavoured Pork Liver Rice Rolls’ can truly be described as tender and succulent. The only drawback of Chan Hon Kee is its remote location; if you’re travelling from the New Territories, I imagine it’ll take about twenty minutes by bus.
Address: Ground Floor, 91B Yun Tau Street, Tai Po
Tel: +852 2658 2277
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday; 11.00 am to 4.00 am
Average spend per person: HK$50
Other recommendations: claypot rice, fresh fish skin with ginger and spring onions
#4 Memorise thoroughly
Other famous rice noodle roll shops are all in Kowloon and the New Territories; if I were to pick a representative on Hong Kong Island, I’d choose Keung Kee in Wan Chai. Keung Kee is actually best known for its glutinous rice, but its ‘pan-fried rice noodle rolls’ are genuinely excellent. Keung Kee’s rice rolls aren’t made in-house, but they’re far from run-of-the-mill. They have a silky smooth texture, with dried prawns and spring onion mixed in; as soon as they hit the pan, the aroma of spring onion and dried prawns fills the air. What is most commendable, however, is the owner’s dedication to the craft; whenever a customer asks for their rice rolls to be pan-fried until slightly charred, they do their utmost to accommodate the request. As all regulars know, the caramelised aroma is the key to pan-fried rice rolls.
Address: Ground Floor, Chong’s Enterprise Building, 382 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai
Tel: +852 2572 5207
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday; 12 noon to 1 am
Average spend per person: HK$60
Other recommendations: glutinous rice, sweet soup with glutinous rice balls
#5 Tang Ji
In the old days, lots of travel guides used to mention ‘Tang Kee’ rice noodle rolls on Man Wai Street, at Ferry Corner in Jordan, didn’t they??? It closed down a while ago. There’s no point going there anymore.
Address: Shop C, Ground Floor, Man King Building, 26 Man Wai Street, Ferry Point, Jordan, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2710 7950
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