The Cadillac of street grub has just parked in Flushing.
Rolls Rice, a stand in a food court that specializes in steamed chéung fán (Cantonese rice rolls), opened at 40-46 Main St. on Sunday, Oct. 18.
With help from chili crab sauce and minced pork with basil, Rolls Rice re-envisions chéung fán as a canvas for culinary art, drawing on the cultures of Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan.
The virtuoso is Richard Chan, former chef-owner of the critically acclaimed Yummy Tummy in Murray Hill. The Singapore immigrant’s new menu features seven Destination Creations—including braised pork, dried shrimp, Chinese sausage, and shiitake mushroom with Chinese greens—with each one designated by the respective inspiring city’s airport code. For example, Chan showcases his native country with SIN, a roll packed with shrimp and topped with the very same chili crab sauce that made Yummy Tummy famous before it closed due to Covid.
Rolls Rice customers can also build their own rolls by choosing from a variety of fillings—i.e. roast pork, spam, the spicy Malaysian fermented shrimp paste sambal belacan—and such sauces as Chan’s homemade Rich’n Famous Chili Oil and Secret Sriracha.
This is just the beginning for Chan, who wants to create at least 30 international flavors, even an Italian chéung fán. Matzoh chéung fán, anyone?
Hours: Monday to Thursday, 9 am to 6 pm; and Friday to Sunday, 9 am to 7 pm. Phone: 718.799.0388.
