盆菜的起源

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公元1276年，南宋軍民抵抗蒙古入侵已經40多年，於2月4日都城臨安終於淪陷。蒙古軍俘虜了年僅五歲的南宋恭帝，南宋滅亡。但陸秀夫、楊亮節、陳宜中等南宋遺臣在福州擁立恭帝的兄長趙昰稱帝，改元景炎，號召各地軍民勤王復國，不久蒙古軍攻陷福州，南宋小朝廷出海南逃，大軍曾經過現時的東莞長安及新界錦田，得到村民盛情款待。但在倉猝之間，村民找不到足夠的器皿盛載食物，只使用木盆把菜餚一層一層疊放在一起，便是盆菜的起源。

時至今日，盆菜已成為新界圍村人的風俗。每逢喜慶節日，例如新年、嫁娶、新居入伙、祠堂開光或新年點燈，新界的鄉村均會舉行盆菜宴。
 

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The origin of Poon Choi

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After 40 year resistance against Mongolian army, Song Dynasty was finally defeated. Lin'an, the capital of Song, was fallen in 1276. Emperor Gong of Song surrendered to the Mongolian. Some senior officials, Lu Sau Fu, Yang Liang Jie, Chen Yi Zhung still wanted to fight back. They set up a new government of Emperor Duanzong in Fuzhou. Unfortunately, the new capital was fallen shortly too. The Song army fled to the coastal area of Guangdong. When they passed Kam Tin, the local people served the Emperor, officials, the soldiers with the “best” food they had (i.e. pork, chicken, seafood) . At that moment, they didn’t have enough tableware for thousand and thousand of soldiers. They put different kind of food layer by layer into a pot (called “Poon” in Chinese). This is the origin of Poon Choi, meaning “food served in pot”.

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Now it is a tradition in the New Territories villages that people hold Poon Choi banquet in festivals and celebrations, such as Lunar New Year, wedding, moving into new home, the birth of boys in Ancestral Halls.
 

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從團村走出城市

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盆菜宴不同於其他宴會形式，它具有獨特的文化意義。 它的意思是「團結」。主人家只要在祠堂門口張貼通告，村裡的鄉親便會自動出席宴會。在聚會中，不論是有錢人還是窮人，也享受著同一樣的食物，可以說團結與平等的象徵。除了美食之外，一班鄉親團在桌子吃盆菜，談天說地，把酒言歡，樂也融融，把平時寧靜的鄉村一時間變得熱鬧非常。

 

 近年，城市人也被盆菜的傳統特色及氣氛吸引，這個傳統習俗已經由圍村走到城市，也喜愛訂購盆菜與家人朋友一起慶祝節日。而當中盆菜的食材也在轉變，演變出不同口味，有不少盆菜加上貴價的食材，也有素盆菜的出現。

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From village tradition to Hong Kong Culture

 

Poon Choi banquet is different from other banquets, it has a unique cultural significance. It means “unity”. When a Poon Choi banquet is hold, a piece of red notice will be posted at village hall, then the villagers will automatically show up in the banquet. In the banquet, all the villagers, no matter they are rich or poor, enjoy the same bowl of food, so it somehow represents ”equality”. Apart from the delicious food, the villagers love the atmosphere most. They sit around the table, sharing the food, chating and drinking. It is an very enjoyable moment in peaceful village life.

 

Poon Choi is a tradition of the indigenous people of walled villages. Nowadays the people in City area also like Poon Choi. They will order Poon Choi in their apartment to celebrate some Chinese festivals with family and friends. This tradition becomes trendy again. The recipe has been modified also. For example, some expensive ingredients have been served; vegetarian Poon Choi is also invented

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盆菜裡有什麼？

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過去，盆菜只能在圍村裡品嘗。現在，不少市區的食肆也有供應，更加入了一些新口味，如客家盆菜，海鮮盆菜和素盆菜等。而傳統的盆菜則有較多的本地材料。它的特色是「一盆」。將預先煮熟的食物一層一層地放在盆裡，把一般的食物到昂貴的食材一層又一層由下到上依次鋪上。

 

一盆共有三層食物，最豪華的叫 「九缽」，即將盛滿九個大碗的食物放入盆內，其次是 「兩杉四缽」。 食材有雞、鴨、魚丸、冬菇、生蠔、蝦、鮑魚、鱔和其他貴價海鮮，而兩杉就有豬肉、豬皮、魷魚和枝竹等。盆菜也有季節性的，如冬季放蘿蔔於最低層，吸收湯味，而夏天則會用竹筍代替蘿蔔。然而，食材的選擇很少是綠葉蔬菜的，因為農民已經是每天在吃蔬菜。

What are inside Poon Choi?

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In the past, Poon Choi can only be tasted in the village. Now, many restaurants also have its supply, some introduces new flavors, such as Hakka style, seafood style and vegetarian style. The traditional Poon Choi will mainly use local ingredients. 

 

The pre-cooked food will be placed layer by layer in a pot, from bottom to top, from general to expensive food. The highest class of Poon Choi is called “ 九缽 / 9 bowls”, in which 9 bowls of foods are served. The general kind of Poon Choi is called “兩杉四缽 / 2 dishes 4 bowls”. Mostly, there are chickens, duck, fish balls, mushrooms, dried oysters, shrimps, sea eels and other valuable seafood, or 2 dishes with pork , roasted pork skin, squid and Tofu skin . Poon Choi dishes also have seasonal differences, such as the lowest layer of radish in winter, absorbing the sauce as its flavor; in summer the radish is replaced by bamboo shoots. However, leafy green vegetables are never served in the pot as they are too common in village life in.