Poon Choi 盆菜 is a largely-portioned dish that comes from Hong Kong. It is usually cooked in sizable proportions and can feed more than 10 people. It is usually served in basins, whether metal, porcelain, or wooden, full to the brim with different meats, vegetables, and other foods. Poon Choi also has an alternative Roman spelling of “pun choi.”
Many English menus and writers translate Poon Choi as “Big Bowl Feast,” but the actual translation of the term is “vegetable basin,” with “choi” referring to vegetables. It is widely believed that the dish had originated over six centuries ago, during China’s Song Dynasty. Mongols had invaded the country, and the reigning child emperor, probably Emperor Weiwang, escaped towards the provinces of Hong Kong and Guangdon, along with his troops. In order to provide food fit for an emperor, not to mention feed a multitude of soldiers, the villagers gathered all their the finest ingredients available and cooked it into a dish. Finding no royal-appropriate containers, the local people decided to put the cooked dish in wooden basins used for laundry, and the dish has evolved to become the Poon Choi.
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