Author Archives: allancho

Celebrating 27 Years of Gung Haggis Fat Choy – Watch it again online!


Did you miss Gung Haggis Fat Choy 2026?   Never fear, as we recorded it for your viewing pleasure!   The 27th annual Gung Haggis Fat Choy celebration returned in 2026 with its trademark blend of ceremony, satire, and cultural fusion, marking Lunar New Year and Robbie Burns Day in a single evening of performance, food, and community gathering.

Held for the first time at Pink Pearl Chinese Restaurant in Vancouver, the event brought together Scottish and Chinese traditions in a way that was at once playful and pointed. Bagpipes and the dragon dance shared the same stage; Burns poetry echoed alongside contemporary readings by our featured poet, Bonnie Quan Symons, and First Nations elder and author Larry Grant.  

Haggis appeared reimagined as the legendary fried haggis wonton dim sum and other hybrid dishes.  Together, the evening celebrated the idea that cultures do not merely coexist in Canada, but actively shape one another.

Now in its third decade, Gung Haggis Fat Choy has become a fixture in Vancouver’s cultural calendar, known for using humour and history to explore questions of belonging, migration, and shared history. The 2026 edition continued that tradition, drawing artists, writers, musicians, and community members into a space that felt both festive and reflective.

Until next year, we’ll meet again!  Happy Lunar New Year!  

Best Chinese New Year Dinner North America? (Gung Haggis Fat Choy) And Dan Seto’s Chinese Fusion Dumpling Recipe


This video was created by Dan Seto.   Check out Dan’s Chinese Canadian Roots YouTube video channel, too. Recipe Is Below:

DEEP FRIED WONTON HAGGIS DUMPLING

1 to 2 kohrabi cabbage, diced
2 medium size carrot, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 stalks salted preserved daikon
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
3 tablespoons cooking oil
2 to 3 tablespoons light regular
4 to 6 oz. haggis or sub with ground pork
1/2 cup chicken broth or water
1 tablespoon cornstarch in 1/3 cup water
1 package large wonton skins or spring roll skins
2 to 3 cups of cooking oil, such as peanut oil

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Cut and dice kholrabi cabbage, carrots, onion, celery and salted daikon.
Preheat the wok or pan on medium heat. Add cooking oil. Then add ginger and garlic and stir-fry briefly. Add vegetables and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes. Add haggis and stir fry. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Continue to stir-fry and then thicken the sauce with the cornstarch solution. Remove the haggis filling into a large bowl and let it cool.

Make circular dumpling wrappers by cupping the wonton skins or spring roll skins. Add 2 tablespoons or less of haggis filling. onto a dumpling wrapper. Seal the wrapper with egg wash or water. Crinkle the edges of the dumplings for a fancier appearance if you like.

Put the cooking oil in a pot or deep pan. Throw a small piece of dumpling wrapper into the oil to see if it sizzles. Add dumplings to the oil one at a time to prevent splatter. Turn the dumplings over for even cooking. Cooking time for the dumplings is about 3 to 4 minutes, depending on the oil’s temperature. Remove the dumplings onto paper towels to soak up some of the oil. Enjoy these dumplings with your favourite sauces, such as chilli, plum, or soy sauce. Enjoy!

Gung Haggis Fat Choy 2026 Program

PERFORMERS

Featured poet:

Bonnie Quan Symons has been a poet for 35+ years, and last year she joined us at the Robert Burns statue in Stanley Park to read a poem by Burns. She has been featured at LiterASIAN and Word Vancouver, and has written many chapbooks and been published in many organizations. She is active in the Vancouver poetry community and is a member of the Asian Canadian Writers Workshop, Pandora’s Collective and Writers International Network (WIN) Canada.

Featured welcome and author:

Larry Grant is a Musqueam Elder with Chinese heritage on his father’s side, who grew up both on the Musqueam Reserve and in Vancouver Chinatown. He gave our Indigenous welcome and land acknowledgment at the 2014 Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner. Larry has written a memoir with Scott Steedman titled “Reconciling: A Lifelong Struggle to Belong.”

Featured Filmmaker

Sarah Ling is a cultural and historical researcher, activist and curator. “All My Father’s Relations” is about Larry Grant and his 3 siblings travelling to China in 2013 to visit the ancestral village their father left in 1920 and meet relatives they never knew they had. The film won “Best Canadian Feature” at its premiere at the Vancouver Asian Film Festival.

Featured Bagpipers

Allan McMordie (a co-founder of the JP Fell Pipe Band, and often seen or heard in the news as a manager for North Shore Rescue), and Caroline Ng (who first joined the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team, then the JP Fell Pipe Band)

Featured Musicians:

Gung Haggis Fat Choy House Band is a group of author friends who also play musical instruments.
Chris Wong – jazz writer, Journey to the Bandstand
Sean Gunn – poet
Ann Marie Fleming – graphic novelist/filmmaker, Window Horse, Can I Get a Witness
Leith Davis – SFU Prof of English and Director of Centre for Scottish Studies at SFU, Robert Burns and Transatlantic Culture
Jill Barber – children’s author/singer

Music is For Everyone, Metaphora, Chances, Holly Jolly Christmas Album

Black Bear Rebels Celtic Ceilidh Ensemble
+ unannounced surprises!

. . . including Toddish McWong’s presentation of photos from his 2009 visit to Scotland – featuring the Robert Burns Birthplace Cottage and Museum and his 2025 trip to my own ancestral area of Guandong province, to Kaiping, China.

Bagpipes, Dragons, and Fire Horses! Robbie Burns Gung Haggis Fat Choy 2026 Returns

What do you get when you mix Robbie Burns Day, Lunar New Year, haggis, dim sum, kilts, and dragon dances? You get the one-and-only Robbie Burns Gung Haggis Fat Choy Celebration, galloping back in 2026 — the Year of the Fire Horse!

Part Scottish, part Chinese, all Canadian — Gung Haggis Fat Choy is Vancouver’s quirkiest, tastiest, most musical cultural mashup. Founded by local legend Todd Wong (aka Toddish McWong), the celebration has been defying cultural boundaries since 1998, proving that bagpipes and chopsticks really do belong at the same table.

This year, we’re adding an extra spark with the Year of the Fire Horse — a zodiac sign famous for boldness, creativity, and a little bit of mischief. (Sound familiar? That’s pretty much this event’s spirit animal.)

The celebration kicks off at Pink Pearl Chinese Seafood Restaurant (1132 East Hastings  Street, Vancouver, BC) on February 1, 2026.  Doors open at 5.30pm

Registration 

Single tickets $80.

Table of 10 — $800 will receive a complimentary bottle of Okanagan VQA wine.  

Registration 
Please note that seating arrangements are not guaranteed.   Due to limited seating, special requests cannot be honoured.  To ensure seating with friends/family, please purchase tickets together.

For media requests and ticket information, please contact: todd@asiancanadianwriters.ca

LiterASIAN Festival 2025 – An Eventful Celebration of Asian Canadian Writers and Community Builders

Allan Cho and Todd presenting the ACWW Community Builders Award to Bonnie Nish

Allan Cho and Todd presenting the ACWW Community Builders Award to Winnie Cheung

Allan Cho, Catherine Clement, and Todd presenting the ACWW Community Builders Award to Larry Wong

Allan Cho, Catherine Clement, and Todd presenting the ACWW Community Builders Award to Larry Wong

Presenting the 2025 Jim Wong-Chu Emerging Writers Award to Samantha Jade MacPherson

Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia (CCHSBC) Dinner Honouring Winnie L. Cheung

Last year, Todd and Catherine Clement (curator and author of the Paper Trail) were co-winners of the Larry Wong Prize from the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia (CCHSBC). This award honours individuals and organizations that impact the public history of Chinese Canadian history and heritage.  This year’s CCHSBC’s Annual Celebratory Dinner honoured our friend Winnie L. Cheung, educator, community-builder, and co-founder of The Pacific Canada Heritage Centre – Museum of Migration (PCHC – MoM) Society and former board member of ACWW.  

Todd Wong, Prairie Chiu, Effie Pow

Catherine Clement and Todd

Allan Cho and Steven Wong

Winnie L. Cheung

Gung Haggis Fat Choy — Sunday, January 26, 2025, 12.00pm

JOIN US for this cosmic countdown to start your year! Enjoy an afternoon of intercultural fusion at Gung Haggis 2025 with food, music, readings, and scotch!

This year’s schedule of events include:

  • A dinner menu with the now world-renowned haggis wonton
  • More readings, more music, and more fun!
  • sneak peak of the menu from previous Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinners

About Gung Haggis:

It was 1998, and as the Chinese Lunar New Year fell only two days away from Robbie Burns Day, which is always January 25, Todd decided to celebrate the Scottish Bard’s birthday along with the Lunar New Year. “Gung Haggis Fat Choy!” said Wong, “I can celebrate two cultures at the same time.” And thus was born the Vancouver cultural premiere that culinary and media personalities have come to celebrate this cultural mashup that features deep-fried haggis wontons, haggis dim sum, and haggis lettuce wrap with a glass of scotch each year.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy started Twenty years later, it serves dinner at the biggest Chinese Restaurant in North America and has spun off a CBC television performance special and the SFU Gung Haggis Fat Choy Canadian Games.as a small fundraiser of 16 people in 1998 in a crowded living room. Twenty years later it serves dinner at the biggest Chinese Restaurant in North America, and has spun off a CBC television performance special, and the SFU Gung Haggis Fat Choy Canadian Games.


“Gung Haggis Fat Choy is the ultimate fusion feast.” – Georgia Straight

“Haggis wontons? Robbie Burns Night meets Chinese New Year.” – Globe & Mail

“Gung Haggis Fat Choy: This Canadian Celebration Combines Robert Burns Night and Chinese New Year.” – Smithsonian

“Haggis and Chow Mein Collide at Seattle’s Gung Haggis Fat Choy.” – Vice

“Hold the sheep’s stomach lining.” – MacLean’s Magazine

For more information, visit https://www.gunghaggis.com/.Join us for an afternoon of intercultural fusion at Gung Haggis 2024 with food, music, and poetry!


Tickets are available for individual purchase or a table of 10!

LiterASIAN 2024 — (Re)Dress

Embarking on a poignant literary exploration of Canada’s historical tapestry, this year’s festival examines the challenges and successes of the meaning of redress.  Join us for a compassionate and informative literary dialogue, where writers will explore the importance of amplifying Asian Canadian voices, promoting cultural understanding, and fostering a society that embraces diversity with open arms. This literary festival is an invitation to collectively embark on a journey of reconciliation, where acknowledgment, education, and empathy pave the way toward a more equitable and inclusive Canada.