Best Chang Fen: EeRecipe Rice Crepes House (Duluth)
I’ve always known those steamed, wide, rice noodles filled with shrimp found in dim sum as chang fen. It’s actually a bastardized (read: Americanized or pinyin) way of saying the real Cantonese term which is cheong fun (similar to chow fun). In any case, if you’ve had dim sum then I’m sure you’ve seen them. Chang fen houses are very common in Hongkong — a wide a variety of chang fen is eaten for breakfast, snack, and of course, dim sum.
I have never really liked any of the chang fen in the US as I find them thicker and stiffer than they ought to be. Real, authentic chang fen (my preference) should be smooth, silky, not sticky, and paper thin. Almost like ribbons of rice sheets. They should slide very easily when picked up with chopsticks and impossible to eat with a spoon. A month ago, a Chinese family friend told us about a chang fen house that opened in Duluth: EeRecipe on North Berkeley Lake in the same plaza as Well Bean Tofu.
Family-owned by Malaysian-Cantonese, EeRecipe puts out the best chang fen I’ve tasted outside of Hongkong. They make the authentic flat, ultra-wide, super thin noodles fresh, by hand, everyday. There are 9 kinds on the menu including the traditional shrimp, Chinese sausage/cilantro, BBQ pork, to name a few. My favorite is the EEeRecipe Rolls which come filled with savory, assorted dried meat and veggies. The filling is pressed onto the noodles instead of loosely inserted in the middle so you get a taste of the minced meat and veggies on every single bite. Topped with fried, crunchy onions and garlic and served with a soy-sesame seed oil sauce and a side of shrimp paste and pickled long green peppers, this is the best on the menu. And the best in the city. At $3.77, it’s also the best for your money. While all the chang fen here are really very good, if there’s one thing you MUST try here, it’s the EeRecipe Rolls.
With three visits under my belt, I’ve eaten the entire menu. Another must try here are the soups. The Rice Crepes Chicken Soup will knock your socks off. The clear chicken broth is absolutely fantastic with its boiled-for-hours taste. A big metal bowl filled with strips of rolled chang fen, fish balls, a large amount of coarsely chopped chicken, bean sprouts, and crispy-fried minced garlic is comfort food at its best. Delicious is an understatement.
Other notables here are the Fried Dumplings (fried to perfection with very flavorful filling of minced pork and veggies), Chicken Wings (flavorful all the way to the bones), and the Fried House Special Rice Crepes (char kway teow) which is a dish of stir-fried chang fen, eggs, tofu, scallions, and bean sprouts.
Oh, and if you must have something sweet after a meal, both of the rolls in their Sweetie Rolls section of the menu are worth a try. Chang fen is either filled with syrupy yet not cloyingly sweet fillings such as banana/corn and peanut/sesame. Both are good.
So head on out make the trek if you want to know what authentic chang fen tastes like. The 30-minute drive from ITP is far quicker and shorter than the 18-hour flight you have to endure to get to Hongkong.
EERecipe Rice Crepes House
2645 N. Berkeley Lake Rd. Suite 129
Duluth, GA 30096
770-497-3393
Closed on Mondays
Open Tuesday-Sunday from 11AM-9:00PM
Technorati Tags: Cantonese, Malaysian, chang fen, cheong fun, Duluth, Atlanta
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8 responses so far ↓
1 In the news: Botekim Brazilian Bistro opens in Marietta, Cafe Agora to open second location | Food and More with John Kessler // Jul 27, 2011 at 3:31 pm
[...] Website Georgia Asian Times has reported that Duluth Asian creperie EeRecipe is now open. The restaurant specializes in cheong fun — steamed rice noodle rolls filled with meat, seafood and/or vegetables and then topped with sweet soy sauce — commonly found at Cantonese dim sum houses around metro Atlanta. Blogger extraordinaire ChowDownAtlanta is already a fan. [...]
2 Davin // Jul 28, 2011 at 2:04 pm
FYI – Address is 2(6)45 not 2545. Food was just as you described it. Crepes were delicious and the cilantro and other ingredients were seemingly built into the crape itself – far better than the typical dim sum variety. The only thing nicer was the owner/server. She was incredibly welcoming and equally curious as to how I found her. She was very appreciative of your blog. Great tip!
3 Chloe // Jul 28, 2011 at 7:12 pm
Hey Davin — so glad you liked it! Been there 4 times now and the lady owner still has no clue that I blog
Address corrected, thanks for the heads up… sticky fingers.
4 AsianCajuns Lar // Jul 30, 2011 at 8:37 am
Eee, Chloe! I totally want to go here! I feel like a bad (part) Cantonese for not knowing about this! They sound heavenly!!!
5 Chloe // Jul 30, 2011 at 10:19 am
Lar — we can do it on our next field trip
6 tanline // Jul 30, 2011 at 11:10 pm
Just tried this place tonight with the family. Great food! We tried all your recommended dishes. The owners were really friendly. They were slammed tonight – packed with only 2 waitress (owners?) and one cute little boy helping bring the food out.
7 Chloe // Aug 1, 2011 at 12:04 am
tanline — you’ve been a regular reader for so long, thank you so much for that. I’m so glad you liked this place. I hope more people get to discover this little gem.
8 EERecipe Rice Crepes House | Eat It, Atlanta // Oct 11, 2011 at 9:16 am
[...] again, I’m introduced to some great Chinese food by the lovely, and generous Chloe. I’d be lost in Duluth without her; I’m still very inexperienced when it comes to [...]
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