My first Poon Choy of 2014 was a decadent one from Spring Garden, one of the pork fee outlets of the Tai Thong empire.
This luscious one pot feast was layered with 18 ingredients; coincidentally all my favourite Chinese New Year items – fish fillets, fish maw, dried oysters, black mushrooms, celery, sea prawns, sea cucumber, wheat gluten, broccoli, lotus root, white radish, poached chicken, fatt choy (black moss), conpoy, roast duck/ beancurd stick and finally Tien Jin cabbage at the bottom, soft and tasty having soaked up all the gravy from the basin.
Expectantly, traditional set menus of 9 dishes are offered for this Chinese New Year too. The options are as per the image below.
However I’m of opinion that the festive casserole hotpot dish Poon Choy which symbolises prosperity and abundance should be included in every Chinese New Year feast.
For one, having everyone at the table digging into this big basin of treasures never fails to get everyone excited and satisfied.
Furthermore, due to its preparation method where different ingredients are cooked and placed in layers in the pot, diners are rewarded with a flavorful and scrumptious dish. Dry ingredients such as seafood (fried fish, prawns, abalones) are placed on the top while others which absorb liquids well are placed at the lower layers of the basin.
Poon Choy are usually eaten from top to bottom, so it’s alike a treasure hunt as everyone eats and look forward to unearthing the next “new” ingredient inside the pot. 
For each order of Poon Choy here at Spring Garden, the specially made basin of which it was served in is yours to take home. Yes, this beautiful pot with the horse patterns on its rim. However bear in mind that this is a limited edition item so it’s on a first-come-first basis.
Book your Poon Choy fast by calling Tai Thong careline at 1800-88-2338.
The Poon Choy you see above is RM498++ and it’s ideal for 10 diners. A smaller serving for 5 pax is priced at RM298++. A luxe version with abalone “Prestige Poon Choy Pot” is RM398++ (5 pax) and RM698++ (10 pax).
Other than the Poon Choy, we were all wow-ed by the Rainbow Tang Yuan dessert.
Tang yuan can be boring balls of dough or it can be coloured spheres of flavours. Executive Chef Chef Thomas Chau breathes creativity into this humble dessert by incorporating not 1 or 2 or 3 but 7 flavours of vegetables into one bowl!
Smooth and sweet red bean, corn, lotus paste, yam, custard, sweet potato & pumpkin paste filled these soft, chewy orbs swimming in sweet ginger soup. I can’t get enough of this! 
Another integral part of any CNY dinners/lunches is the yee sang. All yee sang sets are available in half or full portions priced from RM68.80++ and RM88.80++ respectively.
A healthier, and not to mention conversational piece is the Eight Jewels Fruit Yee Sang.
The combination of green apples, water apples, pears, jackfruit strips, pomegranate, mandarin orange wedges, grapes, dragon fruit was very fresh, sweet & refreshing.
What would you toss to for 2014?
I would say more money, better health, staying safe and a successful career!
Tai Thong’s Poon Choy Pots, Prosperity Yee Sang, Rainbow Tang Yuen and CNY set menus are available from 14th December 2013 – 14th February 2014.
Book your Chinese New Year dinners/lunches fast by calling Tai Thong careline at 1800-88-2338 or visiting www.taithong.com or www.fb.com/TaiThong.
PS: You can view other menus from the many restaurants under the Tai Thong Group here. Select halal/pork-free or go porkilicious. There should be one conveniently located near your home/office.
http://www.taithong.com.my/promotions/promo-highlights/2014-cny-menu.aspx#.UsutdbR8N2k
