A Hong Kong New Year: big dish of food (dapancai 大盘菜）

March 8, 2010 in EAT by jen | No comments

On to the second part of my Chinese New Year feast – the big plate of food. Dapancai (大盘菜) originates from southern Guangzhou province. Because Hong Kong was historically part of Guangdong, and because of relative geographic proximity, the dish is also popular in HK. Dapancai is more of a ritual, than a dish per se: in small rural villages, where there were no large restaurants in which to celebrate New Years, villagers came up with this dish as a way to have a potluck feast. Each family prepares one dish – and in China as elsewhere, there is always has one signature dish that the chief cook is most proud of – and the village then gathers together, each family bringing their special dish, which are arranged in a communal massive bowl, or plate, or pot. A potluck in one bowl.

There’s a bit of an art to it – a variety of different vegetables and meats are usually included, and it’s layered carefully to maximize yumminess. For instance, the meats are placed on top, so their juices can drip down and flavor the rest of the food. Braised turnips (or other root vegetables) are usually placed on the bottom, since they are magical in their ability to soak up sauces and become even more delicious.

At home, we recreated this villager dish. By we, I mean my dad. He made no less than 12 different dishes, which we layered into our own dapan (big dish). Not as impressive as the massive bowls in the villages, but it was fantastic nonetheless. Below is my little photo essay on assembly.

The bottom, or first, layer was braised turnip, followed by stewed pork skin.