Seafood Poon Choy ~ 海鲜盆菜

Poon Choy (盆菜) or 'Big Bowl feast'  is traditionally a Chinese New Year dish and it signifies an abundance of wealth and prosperity.  The choice of ingredients are your own preference and here I have prepared a seafood poon choi with nine ingredients.  The dish should be eaten layer by layer from the top to the bottom and not just dig up the whole pot from the bottom.. As this is my first attempt preparing this dish, I made a small portion on the 15th day or the last day of  CNY, which is Chap Goh Mey.  Having this dish in a Chinese restaurant is pretty expensive especially during the Chinese New Year period and preparing it youself is definitely more economical and moreover you get to eat what you like to eat.  For more information on Poon Choi, take a look at  'Wikipedia'.

Layering the Poon Choi

Seafood Poon Choy ~   海鲜盆菜

Ingredients

• 1 small Napa Cabbage
• 1 can of abalone
• 2 dried fish bladder
• 4 big shitake mushrooms
• 6 dried oysters
• 6 dried scallops
• 6 big prawns
• Pacific clams
• Broccoli
• Shaoxing wine, oyster sauce, light and dark soya sauce, cornstarch, some ginger and garlic
• sugar and salt to taste

Method

1. Soak the mushrooms for a few hours or overnight, till soft.  Cut off the stem, set aside.
2. Soak the dried oysters for about 20 mins.  Soak the dried scallops for about 10 mins.
3. To rehydrate the dried fish bladder boil them with a piece of ginger for about 10 mins.  Do not open the lid, let them soak for about 2 hours.  Rinse, squeeze out the water and cut into bite size.
4. In a wok, add some oil, garlic and ginger, stir fry the mushrooms, add in the oysters and fish bladder.  Add some water and bring to the boil, dish out the fish bladder, but leave the mushrooms and oysters, add in the dried scallops.  Dish out the oysters and dried scallops.  Once the mushrooms are soft, add in the Shaoxing wine, oyster sauce, light and dark soya sauce.  Then return the fish bladder, oysters and scallops to the wok to infuse with the sauce.  Toss in the pacific clams and abalone.  (Keep the brine of the abalone and pacific clams to make the broth later).
5. Wash  and snip off the prawn heads and trim off the legs.  Season with some salt, sugar and Shaoxing wine for a while before steaming them.  Retain the juice if any.
6. In a pot of boiling water, add some oil, blanch the broccoli for about a minute, dish out.  Then blanch the napa cabbage a little longer, dish out.  Do not discard the water.
7. Cook the broth with the brine, and some water from the blanched vegetables, add in some oyster sauce and test for taste.  Add in some cornstarch mixture to thicken the broth to preferred consistency, add salt and sugar to taste.
8. Then layer the pot with some napa cabbage, followed by the fish bladder and assemble the top layer to your liking.
9. Pour in the broth, cover the pot and let it simmer for about 10 mins. on medium low heat.
10. Serve.