Cifantuan is a Shanghai breakfast staple, a warm glutinous rice roll wrapped by hand around a stick of hot youtiao, sometimes with sugar, pickles or pork floss tucked inside, eaten on the walk to work.

The story of Cifantuan (sticky rice breakfast roll)

Cifantuan is one of the Four Heavenly Kings of a Shanghai breakfast, alongside dabing, youtiao and doujiang soy milk. It grew out of the same street stall culture that produced the city's earliest dabing and youtiao shop, recorded as opening in 1912. By the 1930s the city had a thriving breakfast trade built on dabing, youtiao and mantou, and over time the four settled into the standard set sold from street stalls and small neighbourhood eateries. The rice roll was built for the walk to work: soft, filling and compact enough to eat with one hand, wrapped around a stick of youtiao for crunch and folded with sugar, pickles or pork floss depending on the stall.

How to make Cifantuan (sticky rice breakfast roll)

Serves: Serves 2

Ingredients

Method

  1. Drain the soaked rice and steam it over a cloth lined basket for 25 minutes, until soft and sticky.
  2. Tip the hot rice onto a sheet of plastic wrap or a damp cloth and flatten it into a rough rectangle with a wet spoon.
  3. Sprinkle the salt over the rice, then lay a warm youtiao along the centre.
  4. Add pork floss, sugar or pickled vegetables to taste along the youtiao.
  5. Lift the edges of the cloth to roll the rice around the filling into a tight cylinder, pressing gently as you go.
  6. Unwrap and slice in half to serve while still warm.

Editor tip. Work with wet hands and a wet spoon throughout, or the hot glutinous rice will stick to everything except the youtiao.

The editor picks for Cifantuan (sticky rice breakfast roll) in Shanghai are still in research. Meanwhile, see the Shanghai signature-dishes index or the Shanghai food guide.