Poon Choi

Poon Choi (盆菜) aka “Big Bowl Feast” is not simply a Cantonese dish, but a mouth-watering cuisine caught in the mess of identity politics. It was originally served during banquets or other special occasions (think, Chinese prom, maybe? I kid, I kid) but has now, as all things cultural do, been caught up into the business of commercialism. The dish originally consists of 9 distinct layers of ingredients but now contains a variety of the following: chicken, duck, pork, abalone, prawn, mushroom, fish balls, shark fin, fish maw, squid, shrimp, pigskin (yum!), bean curd, and white turnip or Chinese radish (with the most expensive ones such as pork meat and abalone proudly displayed on top, and more bland-ish choices such as white turnip line the bottom). Rumoured to be associated with Chinese emperors from the Qing and Sung dynasty, poon choi is filled with a high sense of Chinese-ness and defines the identity of numerous Cantonese speaking groups in South China (including Hong Kong) while providing a precious time of family gathering in today’s hectic world. Recently, however, new concoctions such as the “poon choi cake”, packaged poon choi, and take-away poon choi are beginning to appear on the market, threatening to steal away the authenticity of poon choi.

If you ever happen to have a craving for poon choi, steer away from those boxed-offers and be sure to go for the real deal!