Foods that Bind · Social Glue of Hakka People · Abacus Seed, Lei Cha and Poon Choi 客家人

Hakka people left their ancestral homeland around 300 AD when their home in the Yellow River valley was conquered by nomadic invaders from the north. For the next 1,700 years, the Hakka people kept moving south to escape wars and conflict. Today, there are over 100 million Hakka in the world with half living in China and the rest around the world.

Ancestral homeland of the Hakka is between the Yellow River and Yangtze River

The Hakka, originally mainly from Henan province, are today a people without a homeland. There are large concentrations of Hakka in Tingzhou (west Fujian province) and Meizhou (east Guangdong province) but they are seen as guests 客人, hence they are called Hakka 客家.

Read more on history of Hakka migration 👈 click

Despite not having a homeland and scattered around the world, Hakka people remained a distinct, cohesive community with their distinctive culture, language and cuisine.

Not always warmly welcome by locals, the Hakka lived and tilled the hills which are less accessible and less fertile (than the plains and river deltas). They lived in walled villages known as tu lou 土楼 which are like fortresses for protection. They foraged the hills and tilled the land not far from the safety of their tu lou. We can still see tu lou in Tingzhou and Meizhou today.

Hakka cuisine, therefore, use more herbs, vegetables, nuts, seeds, pork, chicken, tofu and less fish, crustaceans, shellfish which are the privilege of people who have access to the sea. Traditional Hakka food also use more dried and preserved (salt and vinegar) ingredients as food was scarce and supply uncertain. Hakka dishes tend to be hearty, filling meals to fuel muscles needed for hard labour. 

Food is an important identity marker and also unifier of the Hakka community. The seemingly mundane act of preparing food and eating together plays an important role as social glue in Hakka culture.

Let's look at the examples of abacus seed, lei cha and poon choi. (There are many more dishes in Hakka cuisine, these are selected to illustrate their role in community bonding.)

Abacus Seeds 客家算盘子

Abacus seeds are made by hand kneading mashed yam with tapioca flour and cornflour. The abacus seeds have a signature "dimple" in the middle. The abacus seeds are stir fried with soy sauce, lard, minced pork, tofu, dried shrimp, fried shallot, etc.

Making abacus seeds is a family affair among Hakka people. Mothers teach their daughters the art of hand kneading abacus seeds. Often, it is a three generation affair - grandma, mother and daughter(s). Making abacus seeds is a ritual that binds the generations of a family.

Lei Cha 客家擂茶

Lei Cha is an ancient rice dish dating back to 280 AD. It is made up of two components - a bowl of boiled rice blanketed with stir fried vegetables, tofu, chai poh (preserved radish), and nuts, and a second bowl of boiled ground vegetables and tea leaves.

To eat, the bowl of hot green tea is emptied into the bowl of rice and stir fried vegetables. Lei Cha is a healthful dish rich in protein, minerals and vitamins. It is an acquired taste for some non Hakka but I love it.

Lei cha is a uniquely Hakka dish in that its ingredients are flexible - vegetables, herbs, nuts and seeds can be switched depending on what is available at hand (around the world). Lei cha's adaptability reflects the resilience of Hakka culture and ensures its survival in new environments and situations. Yet, the dish remains unmistakably lei cha and there is no other dish in the world like it.

While making abacus seed is a family affair, making lei cha requires recruiting neighbours and extended family. Lei cha consists of at least ten different vegetables like long beans, wing beans, spinach, cabbage, chives, leek, sayur manis, etc. These need to be sorted, cleaned, cut, sliced and diced, and stir fried separately.

The green tea also require many different aromatic vegetables (e.g. mint, basil, cilantro, etc), herbs and teas. Traditionally, these are ground by hand using a grinding bowl and a stout branch (camphor or guava). This is heavy work, so it is usually shared by working in turns, and men get roped in as well 😅

Family, neighbours, extended family chat and banter while working together cleaning, cutting, grinding, boiling, and stir frying the myriad components that go into making lei cha.

Then, everybody sit down together and continue the fellowship while enjoying the fruits of everybody's labour. So, the making and enjoyment of lei cha play a community building role among Hakka people. Oh..., cleaning up afterwards is also a community bonding activity 😄

Poon Choi 客家盆菜

If abacus seeds involves the family, lei cha requires the neighbours and extended family, it takes a whole village and then some to make poon choi (known as pen cai in Mandarin Chinese).

Pooi choi is literally "dish in a tub". Traditionally, poon choi is made for special occasions like welcoming important guests, weddings, births, birthdays, etc. Today, pooi choi is often the central dish at Chinese New Year reunion dinners (a custom which many non Hakka families also adopted).

Poon choi is made up of more than 10 different component dishes, all of which need to be cooked separately - that's why it takes a village to prepare. While it takes a day to make abacus seed and lei cha, it can take three days to make poon choi. It is like a big pot luck party but with all the dishes put together to form one dish.

According to legend, a Song dynasty emperor and his entourage suddenly showed up unannounced and hungry at a poor Hakka village in southern China. The frightened villagers working together quickly assembled a dish which they put together with an ensemble of peasant dishes. In medieval China, heads literally roll, if the emperor feels slighted. Fortunately, the emperor enjoyed the assembled dish and it continues to this day as poon choi. The tradition of the community coming together to put up a dish fit for a king to welcome guests is part of the symbolism of poon choi (even though today it is usually bought from restaurants 😁 ). 

This origin story also alludes to the Hakka culture of quick thinking, resourcefulness and flexibility when confronted with unexpected challenges. 

Traditionally, the tub is made of wood, i.e. a wooden tub. The tub or basin itself is symbolic. It is round to signify unity, togetherness, community, harmony, fullness and completeness, emphasising the role of poon choi in community bonding. An overflowing tub signifies abundance.

At the first layer (at the bottom), it is usually chunks of stewed radish, yam, tofu skin, etc. At the middle, the second layer, is usually chunks of stewed pork belly. The top layer is the crowning glory of stewed abalone, fried prawn, stewed sea cucumber, scallop, oysters, mushroom and some blanched greens for colour.

At major festivals, dozens of tubs of poon choi are prepared and served in a large communal feast. The whole village and guests from other villages are invited to the banquet. Poon choi serve as a vehicle to bring the whole village and guests together to build and strengthen community bonds.

Foods that Bind

Food play a crucial role in the identity of Hakka people. It's one of the ties that bind Hakka people together at many levels  - from family, to neighbours, to village and the world at large. You can see the power of food as social glue in the unity of Hakka people. 

                  

Written by Tony Boey on 27 Jan 2022

Image of poon choi courtesy of Wikipedia. Image of Hakka people courtesy of cyberisland. Image of tulou courtesy of Wikipedia. Image of abacus seed courtesy of Flickr.