Hello hi everyone! Wesley here. Today we’re adding to our series on foods inspired by the Bay Area restaurant scene with a shot at a Taiwanese sticky pork and rice roll or “cifantuan,” inspired by the one found at Five Happiness in San Francisco, CA. For those not familiar, a cifantuan or “fantuan,” as it is colloquially referred to, is made up of glutinous sticky rice, wrapped around a Chinese fried donut or “youtiao,” and folded together with a savory dried pork floss, or “rousong.” Here in the states, you’ll commonly come across these in Taiwanese pastry shops and dim sum restaurants like Five Happiness, but you may also find these in Taiwan from street food vendors as well because they are so compact and easy to eat on the go. Hope you try it.
yields 6
INGREDIENTS
1 cup rousong (pork floss)
3 frozen youtiao (Chinese donuts)
2 green onions
sesame seeds
1 cup glutinous rice
1 cup jasmine rice
4 cups water
sesame seed
PREP
SLICE the green onions thinly on a bias, set aside
COMBINE the glutinous and jasmine rice, then soak in water for at least 1 hour, or overnight for best results
DRAIN off water from the rice, then rinse to remove any excess starch
ON THE STOVE
ADD 4 cups water to a wok and bring to a boil
ADD rice, then cover and let simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes
REMOVE rice from heat and let cool for 30 minutes
BAKE the frozen youtiao for 10 minutes at 350F
LAY plastic wrap over a sushi roller (optional), then add a layer of rice, then youtiao donut, then rousong, green onions, and a pinch of sesame seeds
ROLL the rice gently over the youtiao donut, using the mat (or plastic wrap, if you don’t have a mat) to pull the rice tight
SLICE in half and serve immediately