Five To Try: Fan Tuan – Sticky Rice Rolls Filled With Chinese Doughnut, Pork Floss and More

In Taiwan and parts of China, fan tuan, which translates literally from Mandarin to “rice parcel”, is a common breakfast staple. The warm and portable sticky rice roll can be filled with any number of things, but most commonly includes pork floss, youtiao (Chinese doughnut), pickled radish and mustard greens.

Much like the Aussie-style sushi roll, fan tuan is built for everyday life. In China and Taiwan, it’s long been eaten by school kids before or after class, and by workers looking for something quick, affordable and sustaining.

At Blissful Station in Box Hill Central, a small vegan stall known for xianbing (stuffed hand-pies) and radish cakes, fan tuan is as simple as youtiao wrapped in glutinous rice. It’s perfect for dunking into warm soy milk for a filling, no-frills breakfast.

At Decennium – the sibling venue to Sanhe Congee – fan tuan has been a customer favourite since the Equitable Place shop opened in 2021. Its default roll comes filled with youtiao, pickled greens, pork floss and tofu, with optional add-ins such as salted egg, tuna and cheese to dial things up.

Owner Emily Lin is from Fujian, across the strait from Taiwan, and grew up eating fan tuan much like the ones she serves here. But she’s quick to point out that the dish varies widely by region. “My husband is from Jiangsu, near Shanghai,” she says. “They have fan tuan as well, but sometimes the rice or the ingredients are different.”

Lin says customers are becoming increasingly familiar with fan tuan in its many forms and often request custom fillings. Decennium is happy to oblige, as each roll is made fresh to order. “Yesterday, a customer asked if we could put a chicken drumstick inside,” she says. “It would make it really big, but as long as they like it, we can make it for them.”

When Decennium opened, Lin says she wasn’t aware of anyone else in the CBD serving fan tuan. But she’s noticed more versions popping up, including at Q Ribs on Flinders Lane, a takeaway shop specialising in the fried dishes of eastern China – particularly the Jiangnan region, where fan tuan has long been eaten.

Q Ribs’s fan tuan is made with a mix of white and purple rice – giving it a firmer bite – and is filled with the venue’s signature fried spicy or plain chicken fillet. Manager Yiran Wang grew up eating far simpler versions – usually just pickled greens and youtiao. “When I was young, at home, I would eat this every day for breakfast,” Wang says.

The chicken-filled version came about on a whim when Wang wanted to create something heartier, built around ingredients already on the menu. There’s also a version with Taiwanese sausage – a common addition that lends a salty, snappy bite. 

Taiwanese sausage versions are also available at Tingtea and the CBD outposts of Wang’s Crispy Pancake – both of which have introduced purple sticky rice fan tuan within the past year. Those versions skew a little differently in style, rolled with fresh vegetables, crispy fried wonton skins and sometimes even mayo.

Both Lin and Wang say CBD workers make up a significant share of their fan tuan fanbase. Decennium, which opens at 6am daily, will sometimes see customers who’ve been out until dawn stopping in for a feed before heading to bed. As fan tuan appears in more corners of the city, it’s doing what it has always done best: providing portable, reliable sustenance.