What's inside the pot of vegetables: lotus root for marriage, radish for anger, sago for spring, bean curd bamboo for richness, taro for strength, newborn egg for young, meatball delegation round, curry fish eggs for the year, mushrooms, golden oysters, roasted meat for the red hot, roasted goose, chicken, flower jelly, sea cucumber, abalone, prawns, and finally with the aroma of the scallop.

More than a dozen ingredients are sorted and processed in advance, and then placed in an orderly manner in a pot from bottom to top, from vegetarian to non-vegetarian, and then drizzled with a secret sauce before serving, and slowly simmered on fire. The vegetarian dishes at the bottom absorb the essence of seafood and meat oils and fats, which gives the meat dishes the sweetness of vegetables and wraps the vegetarian dishes with a strong flavor of the sea and meat.

Expanded Information

The origins of Poon Choi can be traced back to the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, when the Emperor of the Song Dynasty fled from being pursued by the Jin soldiers and landed in what is now Hong Kong's Yuen Long district, starving on the way. The palace chefs had to buy ingredients from the people's homes, and in their haste, they had to use simple wooden pots to put all kinds of ingredients together, which unexpectedly resulted in an heirloom delicacy.

Then this imperial chef had only 180 cents, bought 18 kinds of plants grown by people in the countryside at that time, homemade dried fish, bamboo rot these inside the basin. The emperor thought it was so delicious, so he asked him what his name was. He did not dare to answer that at that time was looking for the villagers to buy food for emergency, so he said that this is very famous pots of food, is the most famous thing in the area.

In modern times, with the fine work of the Hong Kong people, the countryside game that was new in those days has become a must-have dish for families in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao at New Year's festivals. Poon choi is served in any size and in any abundance, whether it is abalone, ginseng, shark's fin, chicken, duck, fish and meat, or turnip and lotus root, each family has its own combination. More than the ingredients, it's the heart of the cook and the warmth of the family reunion that makes it so valuable.

China News Service -- Hong Kong's "New Year's Eve" Poon Choi: a pot of stewed flavors that brings together the warmth of human feelings