Abundance & Prosperity Poon Choi (盆菜)
Author: 
Serves: about 6 to 8 pax
 
Ingredients
The Ingredients
  • 150g Dried Fish Maw (Soaked and Soften)
  • 60g Dried Mushroom (Soaked and Soften - reserve soaking liquid)
  • 500g Fresh Sea Cucumber (Washed; Soaked and soften if using dried ones)
  • 1 kg Prawns
  • 250g Fresh Scallop
  • 1 kg Roast Meat (Roast pork, Duck, Chicken or mixture)
  • 1 can Abalone
  • 1 Can Sea Asparagus
  • 300g Broccoli (Floret Only)
  • 150 g Carrot (Peeled & Sliced)
  • 500g Napa Cabbage (Cut into Chunks)
  • 500g White Radish (Cut into Chunks)
  • 300 Fried Yam
The Broth
  • 1 Tablespoon Oil
  • 1 Tablespoon Chopped Garlic
  • 2 litres of water (including reserved mushroom soaking liquid)
  • 120 ml Oyster Sauce
  • 60 ml Fish Sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Dark Soy Sauce
  • 2 teaspoon Sugar
Finishing and Thickening of Broth
  • 60 ml Hua Tiao
  • 4 tablespoon Corn Flour
  • 4 tablespoon Water
Instructions
Preparation
  1. Soak and prepare all ingredients in advance and base on the time required
The broth
  1. Heat the oil in a large heated pot over medium heat
  2. Add chopped garlic and saute until fragrance
  3. Add in water, mushroom, fish maw, cabbage, white radish and all other seasonings required for the broth
  4. Bring it to boil over medium high heat then lower the fire to simmer for 30 mins to an hour
Cooking and Blanching the Ingredients
  1. Cook and blanch those ingredients that need to be cooked in the broth (Can be done in batches or add the ingredients that need to cook into the pot all at once and remove from the pot when done)
  2. Estimated Time (Varies based on size): Prawns and Scallops about 3 mins, broccoli about 15 to 20 sec, Carrot about 2 to 3 mins, sea cucumber about 3 mins
  3. Remove cooked items from the broth and set aside for layering later. Turn off the heat of the broth while layering
  4. Ingredients that do not need to cook in broth: Roast meat, Abalone, Sea Asparagus, Fried Yam
Layering the Auspicious Pot
  1. Start with Napa Cabbage and White Radish
  2. Then start arranging the rest of the ingredients in section or based on your creativity
Finishing and Thickening of Broth
  1. Bring the broth back to boil.
  2. Add Hua Tiao Wine and allow it to boil for a min
  3. Mix the corn flour and water in a small bowl
  4. Slowly pour in the corn flour mixture into the boiling broth and stir while adding
  5. Ladle the broth over the pot of layered ingredients
  6. Bring the whole pot of poon cai back to the stove and bring it to boil or just serve over induction hotplate
  7. *If serving over induction hotplate, once the poon coi boils, lower to the lowest heat possible and stir occassionally to prevent burnt bottom.
Notes
1.Soaking time of ingredients very much depends on the type and quality you purchased. Please check with seller or instruction on packaging
Typically, soaking of fish maw ranges from 2 hours to 1 day
Dried sea cucumber need about 2 days. Prep all in advance

2. Weightage and choice of ingredients can be change according to your preference. Other optional ingredients which you can add to poon choi: Dried Scallop, Pork Knuckles, etc...
Recipe by eckitchensg at http://eckitchensg.com/2018/02/abundance-prosperity-poon-choi-%e7%9b%86%e8%8f%9c-heavenly-rich-broth/