GEORGE TOWN, June 15 — What can be a snack, an appetiser, a dessert and a meal all rolled into one?

Why, the humble chee cheong fun of course!

This simple dish of very few ingredients is quite popular and can be eaten in the morning, afternoon and evenings.

In fact, this is one of the few rare snacks that is satisfying without being too heavy and strong in flavours.

There are several styles to the preparation of chee cheong fun; some serve it in curry as a substitute for noodles, some serve it steamed with shrimps and roast pork within the rolls for a savoury meal but in Penang, it must be different, naturally, as it is served as a sweet and savoury dish consisting mainly of pastes and the flat rice noodles.

So, if you happen to be in Penang, a plate of chee cheong fun means you get a plate of silky smooth steamed flat rice noodle rolls covered in a tri-colour paste of deep brownish red, black and bright red.

It may look unassuming and perhaps, even unappetizing, due to the mixture of sticky pastes it but a mouthful has a burst of flavours that more than makes up for its minimal ingredients.

The preparation of the chee cheong fun also seems pretty easy as the flat rice noodles need only be steamed till tender and soft before serving.

The noodles are in long soft rolls of about 10cm which will be sliced into bite-size morsels before being placed on a plate, either still rolled tightly in tiny pieces or unfurled into long silken thick strands of rice noodles.

Then comes the good stuff... the mysterious looking thick pastes.

The noodle rolls are made of rice flour so they are kind of bland and this is where it works so well with the combination of three different pastes.

You get a mixture of sweet, salty, spicy and rich flavours of the thick sweet sauce, fragrant sambal (chili paste) and heh koh (prawn paste).

Most stalls will spoon all three pastes on top of the pile of noodles, mostly still rolled tightly, before garnishing with some sesame seeds for an added nutty flavour to the whole concoction.

Upon request, the chee cheong fun hawker will gladly set the pastes aside so that you can dip the rolls of noodles in whichever sauce you prefer instead of having it all mixed into a jumble of flavours.

It could be said that the whole dish actually depends a lot on the mixture of the sauces to give it the strong flavours it’s famous for.

Although the chee cheong fun may be quite a common breakfast and snack dish, it is not as easy to find a stall selling really good flat rice noodles served in wonderfully delicious sauces that gave it its fame.

Here are some of the well-known chee cheong fun stalls that could be found in Penang:

1. Genting café, Lorong Delima 6     GPS: 5.382982,100.303875     Time: 8am-4pm

2. Seow Fong Lye Coffee Shop, Macalister Lane     GPS: 5.417204,100.32905     Time: 7.30am-11am

3. Soon Yeun Café, Jalan Kuala Kangsar     GPS: 5.416788,100.331896     Time: 7.30am-11am

4. New Lane hawker centre, George Town     GPS: 5.41478,100.32643     Time: 6pm-11pm

5. New World Park, Swatow Lane, George Town     GPS: 5.421701,100.327213     Time: 11am-5pm