Today is the 2nd day of Chinese New Year (traditionally refers to “open year” (開年)). Normally my sister and I would cook for a village of 30 people. Because of pandemic, our family won’t gather. I decided to make “poon choi” (盤菜) which is a Cantonese festive meal signifying prosperity and togetherness when the whole family gather around to feast. It’s one big pot filled to the brim with all sorts of ingredients. I’ve made it before years ago, but my family prefers to have a full table of food. This year, I offered to make 3 other pots for 3 of my sisters and their families.

It does take up a lot of time and effort to make this dish, but the outcome is quite nice. Here’s a few tips: Remember to prepare all the ingredients beforehand, especially those that requires soaking for up to days. Some may take hours, some may take days depending on the quality of your ingredients.

Poon Choi is typically separated into 3 layers, with bottom layer filled with ingredients that can soak up the flavor and broth (see below). Second layer is filled with ingredients that has lots of flavors and gravy. The expensive ones go on the top for presentation purposes. With this Poon Choi recipe, you can play around with the ingredients and come up with your desired pot of abundance and prosperity!