Tag Archives: family

Poon Choi, One-Pot Cantonese Festival Dish

Text: 

“Since I can remember, my family has been ordering Poon Choi from local Cantonese restaurants on the eve of Chinese New Year, and I’ve always considered Poon Choi as the centerpiece of the dinner we had on New Year’s Eve. Poon Choi is this one-pot Cantonese dish made up of ingredients such as chicken, fish maw, crab, dried fungi, and other expensive proteins and seafood. I believe each ingredient was usually cooked in a way that symbolized something, or the name itself was a pun for a wish, such as ‘may you be prosperous’. I can’t remember every wish in Poon Choi, and the ingredients can differ, but the point is Poon Choi is a luxury that is usually enjoyed on New Year’s Eve only.”

Context: 

The informant is a 22-year-old female who was born and raised in Foshan (a city in Guangdong province, China) and currently studies at USC. Before attending USC, the informant spend every Chinese New Year with her family, and as a typical Cantonese family, her family considered Poon Choi as a New Year’s Eve “must-have”. According to the informant, Poon Choi (“盆菜”, “盆” refers to the pot containing the dish, “菜” means dish literally) is usually not delicious because when cooked in one pot, the ingredients’ taste mixed up. However, Poon Choi assembles a variety of expensive ingredients and has traditionally been the most significant Cantonese dish to wrap up a year.

Interpretation: 

Though the name Poon Choi was literal, the ingredients in Poon Choi are usually puns referring to different New Year’s wishes. The informant listed a few ingredients she remembered seeing in the Poon Choi she had, and each of them was there for a reason. For instance, in Poon Choi there usually was this dish called “Pig Trotter Brewed with Fat Choy”, and Fat Choy is a dried vegetable named “发菜”, traditionally used in the pun for “发财” (pronounced as “Fā Cái”, which is similar to the pronunciation of Fat Choy and means becoming rich). The combination of pig trotter and Fat Choy symbolically represents the wish for “wealth in the grip”, with “grip” reflected in the pig trotter and “wealth” suggested in the pun. 

Besides symbolism, the expensive ingredients in Poon Choi were included to highlight the luxury theme, including dried fungi, fish maw, shark fin, and dried abalone. Ending the past year with a luxurious meal involving Poon Choi was considered a reward for a year’s hard work and the best way to celebrate the coming year. Surprisingly, none of the informant’s family actually enjoyed Poon Choi’s flavor, but they never spend one New Year’s Eve’s dinner without Poon Choi. Self-identified as a typical Cantonese family, the informant thought her family prepared Poon Choi to uphold a renowned Cantonese tradition fully intentionally because Poon Choi must be ordered weeks in advance.

Welcoming the God of Wealth on the 5th Day of the Chinese New Year

Text: 

“On the 5th day of the Chinese New Year, my family used to have this ritual to welcome the God of Wealth into our home because the 5th day of the New Year is believed to be the birthday of the God of Wealth. We set off fireworks before they were banned, had a feast, and worshipped a portrait of the God of Wealth on this Buddha altar we had in our home which usually closeted a Buddha statue. Our worshipping usually involved burning incense and pouring him a cup of Chinese liquor. Though I believe the God of Wealth was not actually a Buddhist god, my family didn’t believe in either and it was rather a casual superstition to wish for prosperity in the following year.”

Context: 

The informant is a 23-year-old female who was born and raised in Guangzhou (the capital city of Guangdong province in China), and is currently a graduate student at USC. Her family is a typical Cantonese family that values tradition and according to her, is a little superstitious. Due to fire hazards, fireworks are now not allowed in cities like Guangzhou, so her most vivid memory of welcoming the God of Wealth dates back to when she was a child. The informant openly expressed her nostalgia for a grand celebration as a remnant of the past.

Interpretation: 

Though most Chinese families are atheists, worshiping the God of Wealth is more of a casual superstition and is often considered a part of the Chinese New Year celebration. This was reflected in the informant’s case, given how the family had a Buddha altar and placed the portrait of the God of Wealth there, yet they believed in neither Buddhism nor Taoism (the God of Wealth is considered a Taoist god). Wishing upon Buddha and the God of Wealth was a superstitious ritual carried out lightheartedly to wish for good fortune and prosperity, the typical wishes for a new year. 

On a personal level, this memory mattered to the informant because it reminded her childhood, her time spent with her family, and the many celebrations that had been lost as she grew up including fireworks. Today’s public discourse on Chinese mainstream media frequently complains about why the celebration of traditional festivals, most notably Chinese New Year, doesn’t feel as grand and enjoyable as it used to be. The informant acknowledged and agreed that the past was already lost, and spoke of this specific experience she used to have once a year nostalgically.

Family Baptismal Gown – Family Ritual

The family of the informant has used the same baptismal gown for many generations. At least one child in each section of the family wore the gown while being baptized, and many times in the same church. This gown was said to be made from fine linen cloth brought straight from Ireland. The informant wore the gown and their sibling also did, but their cousin on their mother’s side (the side of gown tradition) wore their mother’s. However, the informant said there is now much question in the family as over one hundred people have worn it, but it is currently missing. The informant said that this gown held importance to much of the family to carry on wearing the traditional gown, but now there is discussion of making another one since the first is gone.

Context – Many families will often have a garment or cultural object that holds meaning among the family or a common group. For the informant in this story, the baptism gown is that object and became a symbol of family heritage and carried meaning from generation to generation. This crosses over into the realm of folklore due to the mass of the shared ritual and the commonality that each family may have similar garments or rituals.

Analysis – For those who have a cultural object carrying meaning among a family, there is much symbolic meaning and weight carried by the object. The object no longer is seen as a simple piece of cloth to be worn, but rather a symbol of generational wealth, prosperity, and heritage. In families such as the informant, there is a question created as to where clothing/objects begin carrying weight, and where does the meaning begin collecting deep folklore and meaning among a shared group — it is unclear and decided family by family case whether the object can be replaced or changed at all (such as in this informants family).  

Pre-Thanksgiving Festival/Tradition

“A tradition that my family had is called Pie Day, and it’s not 3-14 but instead the day before thanksgiving. It’s essentially a party where friends and family come together and make pies for thanksgiving, everyone is in the kitchen. Before we moved to Washington my grandma would always have pie day at her house and that is the one time of year that I would see the most extended of extended family. There are lots of wine snacks and cooking. In Washington it was much more my parents’ friends and a couple cousins and such, and the night ends with everyone gathering on the couch and sitting down for a show or movie.”

The informant performs this tradition every year the day before Thanksgiving, typically held at her parents house in Olympia, Washington, USA. Depending on the year, different people may arrive to participate in this tradition. The informant’s immediate family, her parents’ friend group, her dad’s work friends, herself and her siblings, who invite a couple of their friends, and then some extended family are all potential participants, depending who is in town. Every person who comes can bring a dish they would like to make for the next day, but most people just come to socialize and decompress before the busy Thanksgiving day. The informant is not sure when it started, but her family started preparing the pies for Thanksgiving in the days before and as the years went on, more and more people were invited to participate in preparing food prior to the actual holiday.

The tradition demonstrates a culture that values food and socialization, as nearly all cultures do. Cooking together is a common way to build bonds between people, especially family and close friends. It is a sort of unofficial folk festival for just the small group of people involved, taking place the day before a bigger holiday. This is relatively common as people prepare for holidays. There are group cooking days for food-centered holidays, group shopping excursions for the winter holidays that involve gift giving, and group decorating days before decoration-centered holidays like Dia de Los Muertos or Christmas. It is a way to mount the excitement for the holiday as well as extend the celebration.

New Years Rituals

“On New Year’s Eve as it gets closer to midnight we prepare our bodies by eating 12 green grapes, one for each month, eating spinach for good health and money, and eating lentils as well. We also tie a red string and yellow string around our wrists or ankles to symbolize love, protection, and health. We never take it off, we just wait for it to naturally break sometime over that year. We also peel cuties and save the skin to symbolize our first fruit of the year. Lastly, we walk around our neighborhood with empty suitcases to symbolize keeping us safe on our travels that we take throughout the year.”

The informant does this tradition on New Year’s eve/day once it hits midnight. Usually at her grandma’s house. In the tradition, everyone plays the same role and it includes “my mom, sister, grandma and I.” It’s a tradition that has been kept in the family that has been passed down for them to take part in. 

These rituals are homeopathic magic rituals, meaning when performed they bring magic to the people performing it. Eating spinach as a ritual brings magically good health and money. It is a symbolic magic, meaning that the performance mimics the desired result. Spinach is green and leafy, like money, and it is good for health. The first fruit of the year may be important for two reasons. One, that fruit symbolizes the ability to eat well. Secondly, fruit is often used as a term of success financially, for example “fruitful returns” on an investment. Both eating well and the word parallels symbolize financial stability and wealth. It is clear that this culture values wealth and food through these rituals, which primarily focus on money. The suitcase may also be related to money, as it could symbolize wealth enough to travel, in addition to the safety component. This is all done on New Years Eve because as the clock strikes midnight, there is a liminal “between” time in which magic is possible. It is important for many cultures to perform rituals during this liminal time to ensure magic for what they desire in the new year is spread into the universe. Liminal times are often seen as magical times, so it is an ideal time to wish or spread magic.