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Poon Choi, also known as pen cai or Big Bowl Feast, is a traditional type of Chinese food served in wooden basins instead of the porcelain or metal kind.

Contents 1 Origin 2 Ingredients 3 Cultural aspect 4 See also

It was said that Poon Choi was invented during the late Song Dynasty. When Mongol troops invaded Song China, the young Emperor fled to the area around Guangdong and Hong Kong. To serve the Emperor as well as his army, the locals collected all their best food available, cooked it, and put it in wooden washing basins. By doing so Poon Choi was invented.

Poon Choi includes ingredients such as pork, beef, lamb, chicken, duck, abalone, ginseng, shark fin, fish maw, prawn, crab, dried mushroom, fishballs, squid, dried eel, dried shrimp, pigskin, beancurd and Chinese radish.

Poon Choi is special in the way that it is composed of many layers of different ingredients. It is also eaten layer by layer instead of "stirring everything up", but those who cannot wait will often choose to pick up the juicy radish at the bottom first using shared chopsticks.

Traditional Village Poon Choi is served in large metal washing bowls with a special metal plate with holes placed in the bottom of the bowl to stop food burning while it is being kept hot on top of a portable stove while it is being served.

Some restaurants or providers change the outlook of the poon choi and add some ingredients of fresh shrimp and fresh oyster instead of dried ones. This increases the potential risk of contaimination by bacteria that causes disease. It has to be cooked thoroughly.

It is often served during religious rituals, festivals, special occasions and wedding banquets in open area of villages. From the 1990s, Poon Choi became popular among urban dwellers and can also be enjoyed at many Cantonese restaurants in the autumn and winter or on special occasions throughout the year.

• Sung Wong Toi
• Wen Tianxiang