Shanghai Breakfast Rice Roll (Ci Fan)

Ci Fan or “粢饭” is a Chinese breakfast burrito in a sense. In Asia, this is a grab-and-go easy breakfast dish that is both hearty and filling. The “sticky” rice is a sweet glutinous rice, and the stuffings are interchangeable. But the most common fillings are a nice crispy Chinese doughnut with pork floss stuffed inside a billowy pillow of savory glutinous rice. Pairing this delicious wrap with a cup of hot soy milk is how Shanghainese and Chinese people enjoy their breakfast. 

My family is from Hong Kong but Hong Kong is actually quite a melting pot of Chinese people from all over China. In Hong Kong, you are able to taste a lot of different regional chinese cuisines. One in particular is Shanghainese cuisine. A flood of Shanghainese people immigrated to Hong Kong before the onset of the sino-Japanese war. As a result, many Shanghainese people set up roots in Hong Kong and thus their cuisine was blended into Hong Kong culture. 

Breakfast Ci Fan

Ci fan is one of those breakfast favorites that is part of everyday life in asia. The convenience of eating a nice wrapped sticky rice with Chinese donut and fillings will satisfy your cravings until lunch. This dish is really easy to make, and kids will surely enjoy it. This was my favorite breakfast as a kid and I didn’t realize how easy to make it is! With just a few ingredients, you can make this ci fan at home for a quick breakfast meal. I hope you enjoy this recipe!

What is pork floss? Rousung or 肉鬆 is a cottony dried pork made with soy sauce and spices. The light and fluffy texture is perfectly used as a topping and inside baked buns.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of Glutinous rice
• 1 Chinese donut
• 10 tbsp of Shredded pork floss (5 tbsp per roll)
• 4 tbsps of Preserved cabbage (optional)
• 1 Cooking Cloth

Instructions

1. Pre-soak glutinous rice with water for 8-10 hours. This will help rice cook faster. 
2. Line steamer with a damp cooking cloth. In a steamer, steam glutinous rice until rice for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, flip rice over and add 1 cup of water to the steamer. In an oven, bake Chinese donut in 350 degrees for a few minutes until it is warm.
3. Once rice is done, lay a sushi roller on the table. Place saran wrap on the mat. Scoop rice and lay rice evenly on saran wrap. Leave one inch with no rice on top and bottom. 
4. Spread pork floss evenly on top of rice. Add preserved cabbage as an option to the pork floss. Add the donut to the middle of the roll. Wrap ci fan and press nice and tight until the rice meets end to end. Use saran wrap to keep the shape of ci fan roll.
5. Serve right away or serve the next day. Keep ci fan at room temperature, refrigerating the ci fan will make the rice hard and not good to eat.

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