Silky Dim Sum Shrimp Cheung Fun (蝦腸 Ha Cheung)

So while being at home during this pandemic, we've been craving dim sum like crazy. Dim Sum is a Cantonese tradition of breakfast or brunch food, and might be compared to Spanish tapas where all the dishes are small dishes meant to be shared. "Dim Sum" literally translates to 'dim' - to touch, and 'sum' - heart" or "to touch the heart" or "order to your heart's content". Traditionally, dim sum places involve restaurant staff, usually elderly Chinese Aunties, pushing hot steaming carts with steamers piled high and calling out what they have in their carts. (various dumplings, bao buns, mini steamed dishes of cheung fun noodles, siu mai, pork ribs and more.) You'll often hear classics like, "Ha gow! (shrimp dumplings) Siu mai! (pork dumplings), Fung Zhao! (braised chicken feet)" 

Waiters will walk around with trays of freshly fried foods or fresh out of the kitchen dishes like salt and pepper shrimp, calamari, fried bacon wontons, fried taro nests, stir fried clams and dear lord my mouth is watering!! Going for dim sum is an experience--it's loud, crowded, full of families and kids running around, adults gossiping and chatting, plenty of laughter and mountains of good food to stuff your face with. 

One of my favorite dishes is the Cheung Fun (Steamed Rice Noodle) with Shrimp, also known as "Ha Cheung" in Cantonese. After some research and trying out quite a few recipes from different sources, I finally found a recipe for shrimp cheung fun that tastes like restaurant quality cheung fun!​

This recipe is adapted from Shashira, owner of the My Lovely Recipes food blog. Her Instagram is @my.lovelyrecipes so definitely give her a follow! This is so good! 👌👌👌 My hubby and I will now be able to enjoy our beloved cheung fun at home whenever we want 😁

Here's the link to her blog recipe for chee cheong fun: https://www.mylovelyrecipes.com/recipes/chinese-cuisine/chee-cheong-fun/

For this recipe, I use a wok and a metal rack to hold up my 8x8 metal tray to make the cheung fun. You basically make a slurry, steam it, add your raw shrimp, steam again, then fold it up! Keep the cheung fun rolls warm in a separate steamer so it's all hot when you're ready to eat. (Or microwave them all at once for about 30 seconds before eating). Best enjoyed with sweet soy sauce and chili oil or sriracha!

Now I just gotta learn the 383747483829 other dim sum recipes so we can have a real homemade dim sum brunch at home! Now, when we do dim sum at home, we steam up some ready made shrimp dumplings and siu mai, pan fry some pork & chive dumplings or make some crispy beef rolls with scallion pancakes...and of course, some tea! 😁

Silky Dim Sum Shrimp Cheung Fun
Servings: approx. 10 Cheung Fun Rolls
I use an 8x8 square metal pan and steam in a wok

Cheung fun mixture:
3 cups water
1 cup rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup wheat starch
​1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sesame oil

Shrimp:
About 1/2 lb shrimp, deveined and shells removed (you can use small shrimp or you can use larger shrimp and cut them into bite sized pieces)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp white pepper

Equipment:
8x8 metal pan
Small metal stand/rack to place pan on top in wok
Wok

Sauce:
Sweet soy sauce
(Can do regular soy sauce + sugar and water)
Cilantro, Scallion (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix the ingredients together for the cheung fun mixture until smooth. Mix every once in a while throughout the process as the flour settles and separates from the water.
2. Prepare the steamer or wok and fill with water. Place the metal rack in and the 8x8 pan to begin heating. Spray the pan with oil until evenly coated inside. (Or brush with oil)
3. Use a ladle and ladle enough of the mixture to cover the bottom of the pan in a thin layer. Be careful not to make too thick!
4. Steam for 1 minute. You will see it begin to show air bubbles as it steams and lifts from the pan.
5. After 1 minute, add shrimp. Cover and steam another 2 minutes.
6. Remove the pan with gloves or a clamp, and use a flat scraper to fold the noodle over the shrimp into a roll. Remove the cheung fun noodle from the pan and place on a plate.
7. Repeat this process until you are done (you can always keep the batter in a Tupperware and finish the rest for another meal), or keep making until all the batter and shrimp is done. (You can keep the plate of completed cheung fun in either a separate steamer to keep warm or just microwave for about 30 seconds to warm it all up right before you eat).
8. Drizzle sweet soy sauce and spicy sauce or chili oil as you see fit, and enjoy!

Until next time,
Jenny