Have you ever tasted an assortment of delicious food that is a feast for your appetite as well as your eyes? Well, it’s not that difficult to find such a one through enjoying the Poon Choi Banquet (meaning Superbowl Feast) organised by Halls!

Our residence halls held three Poon Choi Banquets in January, one on the17th for the RA Inauguration of HSBC Prosperity Hall, one on the 24th by JC Humanity Hall and the other on the 29th by Hall 9. The participants found the dinner unique.

Featuring a rich variety of ingredients, the Poon Choi Banquet symbolizesd the culture of Hakka Cuisine, which is among the main branches of Chinese Eating Culture. There are several layers of courses partitioned in a certain order inside a “Poon” (a huge food container).Chicken and seafood make up the first layer, while simmered pork, mushrooms, turnip and fishballs etc. are found in the next layer, together with other sauce-absorbing ingredients like squid and Zhupi (pig skin) and bean curd puff. It is said that the simmered pork is the essence of the whole cuisine, as sophisticated skills and procedures are required. 

Do you know the origin of the Poon Choi Banquet? In late Song, when the dynasty was going to be dissolved and replaced by the Mongolian Yuan, the last emperor, an eight-year old boy, fled with his followers southward from the capital. When they came to a village which was located in what is now the New Territories of Hong Kong, they were treated to a big feast contained in a wood basin, which the local people provided with great hospitality. The Poon Choi Banquet evolved gradually from that feast.