Abalone dish 盆菜 Pen Cai recipe

Abalone dish 盆菜 Pen Cai recipe 

Pen Cai is a traditional meal that many chinese like to cook it during festives or celebration. It is a very popular dish to have during Chinese New Year celebration. Pen Cai is mostly served in a large bowl or pot and includes lots of delicious ingredients. 

Although Pen Cai may look like a lot of work is needed, it is actually not too daunting. I've listed ingredients and steps below to make this sumptuous feast and hope many more of us can enjoy this dish! 

Pen Cai has many ingredients, some of them are cooked separately and put into layers, so that there are different taste and flavors within the pot. Some of the ingredients can be changed to others that you love, not necessary to stick to fixed ingredients. 

But must haves are abalones, scallops, roasted meat and prawns, as these are the main ingredients that makes it flavorful. 

Ingredients:

Abalone (canned abalones), use braised sauce ones

Roasted meat, buy ready ones from hawker/meat seller 

Cabbage, boil in water, add some salt

Pig skin & fish maw, boil in water 

Fat choy/black moss, boil in water, add some salt

Bean curd skin, boil in water

Black fungus, fry with oil, garlic, salt and pepper

Mushrooms and broccoli, fry with oil, garlic, salt and pepper

Prawns, fry with oil, add salt and pepper, until it turns bright orange

Scallops, fry with oil, garlic & ginger, add salt & pepper, until it turns yellow

Steps: 

To make abalones soft, boil unopened canned abalones in a big pot over a gas stove, once the water boils, change to small fire and stew for 15 mins

Remove canned abalones from pot and let it cool down, can put into cool water pot

Open the can and take out abalones, pour out abalone gravy into separate pot

Put cabbage into gravy sauce and stew for 20mins

Prepare a pot of water, bring it to a boil, add some salt and boil some of the ingredients stated above that needs to be boiled, separately.

Prepare a saucepan and stir fry some of the above ingredients, separately. 

Once all ingredients are cooked, prepare the Pen Cai big pot and start putting the ingredients layer by layer

First, put cabbages at bottom of pot, then add on fish maw, pig skin and bean curd.

Then pour abalone sauce into these ingredients, submerge them into the gravy. 

Put mushrooms, broccoli and black fungus on next layer

Finally, put roasted meat, black moss, prawns, abalone, scallops right on top, and Serve.