Chef Cheung Hong-man on poon choi’s humble Hakka origins and how the festive dish has evolved
- Cheung Hong-man grew up enjoying the communal feast in a Hakka village in Yuen Long
- He now serves an elevated version of the dish at Hyatt Regency Sha Tin, where he is executive chef
How did they prepare it? “You couldn’t just order out for food then. You called everyone in the village who knew how to cook to help out. They would build a firepit with bricks and charcoal, and start cooking on an open terrace. Everything was prepared separately before being assembled into serving basins.
“Folks did that at Chinese New Year and for special occasions like holidays, birthdays and weddings. When I was small, I would watch from the side with interest as the elders cooked. I thought, ‘How do they make this? The wok is so big.’ Maybe occasionally I would ask a question or two.”
What is the history of the dish, as you understand it? “The stories I heard of how poon choi was invented is that a New Territories village sent its best foods in a large basin to the Song dynasty emperor and a general when they arrived nearby while fleeing from Mongol invaders. I’m sure there’s some truth to it.”
I know people now make poon choi in many different ways. I think it’s a good thing [...] even when I was small, when I had poon choi in other villages it tasted different
What’s the key to preparing this traditional dish? “For me, there are three layers to a poon choi. The top is decorated with the most prized and deluxe items, like the meats, shrimps and other expensive stuff. When I grew up, we didn’t have fancy ingredients like fish maw, abalone or sea cucumber. Instead, we had an entire dace fish fried to get a moreish smell, maybe dried oysters and black moss if we were lucky. But each item would have its own flavour and taste.
“In the middle would be Hakka-style fermented bean curd pork. This would be the dominant taste infusing most other ingredients inside. I make it without too much spice so it’s not too heavy. At the bottom layer, there might be bean curd, bamboo, bean curd skin, wood ear fungus, lotus root and Chinese radish. The most important is the radish because it doesn’t stick to the bottom and it releases a lot of moisture when slow cooked, making the flavour more complex.”
How do you feel about chefs modernising the dish? “I know tastes change with time. Some older ingredients are not so easy to find in markets. People are more health conscious, too. They want value for money.
“I know people now make poon choi in many different ways. I think it’s a good thing. It’s progress, in a way. It might be different from in the past but even when I was small, when I had poon choi in other villages it tasted different. You can preserve the past but have progress. Like changing a poon choi’s toppings but keeping the base foundation. It is a unique Chinese dish.”
How do you manage the Hyatt Regency restaurant Sha Tin 18’s wide repertoire of Dongguan cuisine as well as northern dishes like dumplings and Peking duck? “Sha Tin 18 is primarily a Dongguan concept. Dongguan has a lot of Hakka people but as a cuisine it’s not as popular as those of Sichuan or Beijing.
“The funny thing is my formal training is actually in Western cooking. There’s a lot I have learned about different Chinese cuisines in preparing the dishes. I know how things are done but I mostly leave it to my expert staff. They have helped build our northern dumplings, Peking duck and other dishes as signatures.”
Why did you study Western cooking? “Back then, 30-something years ago, people went into Western cuisine because that was the thing to do. It had more career paths and was more modern. Chinese cuisine wasn’t as refined. It was a different time.”
How are old-school Chinese chefs different? “There was a less outgoing mentality. In Western food, we had cooking stations at buffets and I am used to meeting and chatting with cocktail guests. But being in public was difficult for some chefs.
“I remember when we opened Sha Tin 18, in 2009, with an open kitchen, chefs were telling me they felt so much pressure with guests always at the window watching. This was very uncomfortable for them. I’ve had top chefs quit because they couldn’t handle it. Now, the cooks trained at the VTC [Vocational Training Centre] are so used to being watched, it’s nothing to them. This is a big change.”
Chef Cheung Hong-man’s poon choi can be ordered as a takeaway.
