Poonchoi: The Production and Popularity of a Rural Festive Cuisine in Urban and Modern Hong Kong

Poonchoi is a traditional village cuisine among indigenous inhabitants of the New Territories of Hong Kong. It consists of a variety of food items which are cooked separately but served together afterwards in a large basin called poon in Cantonese (pen in Mandarin). In the past the basin was made of wood but is now made of zinc. Eaters use their own pair of chopsticks to dig into the different layers of ingredients making up a poonchoi to find their favourite food. Poonchoi is not a typical dish served daily but a banquet fare for celebrating major events such as important religious ceremonies, weddings, the birth of a son or moving into a new house. This village cuisine is referred to by Cheung (2005: 251) as ‘low cuisine’, meaning that it is not prepared by people with professional culinary skills, nor is it served through labour intensive catering services. Also, the food items are inexpensive and ordinary and the preparation is a local home style. It is in great contrast to high cuisine with its expensive, exotic and imported ingredients to be served in an atmosphere of fine dinning.1.