Chinese Food for Chrismukkah
Share
It’s no secret! Jews love to eat Chinese food, especially on Christmas.
Why Chinese food? Reasons range from accessibility — most Chinese restaurants are open on Christmas — to ingredients. Unlike most cuisines, Chinese food seldom mixes meat and dairy, so it at least feels kosher-adjacent. We’ll just ignore the prominence of pork in Chinese cooking for the moment.
This year, for the first time since 2005, the first night of Hanukkah is on Christmas Day. That makes it the perfect opportunity to experiment with your own Asian cooking and create a unique family spin on the holiday meal.
To get perspective on the merging of these winter holidays, and some delicious recipes, JLiving reached out to the Los Angeles community leaders of The LUNAR Collective: Vanessa Bloom, David Chiu and Sophia Morgan. LUNAR’s mission is to cultivate connection, belonging and visibility for Asian American Jews through intersectional community programming throughout the year, as well as authentic digital storytelling.
“The Chinese-food-on-Christmas tradition is especially fun for our Asian Jewish community,” Chiu says. “By now, the tradition has become so popular that Christmas is an exhausting day for many Chinese restaurants, so please be patient and tip generously.”
Chiu adds, “Let’s dedicate ourselves to the idea that even fun and informal Jewish traditions like this one should be moments where we embody our Jewish values.”
On Dec. 27, LUNAR Los Angeles will host “Lanterns & Latkes: An Asian Jewish Hanukkah.” Its fourth LUNAR Hanukkah will be all about the light that outshines the darkness.
“Two years ago, we featured Chinese food at our LUNAR’s Hanukkah party (which was the day after Christmas),” Chiu recalls.
“This year will be similarly Asian-themed.”
At the event, in addition to eating and schmoozing, each person will be given a white paper lantern to decorate with things that speak to their unique identities. LUNAR will then place an electric light inside each lantern to brighten the space with the beautiful glow of everyone’s individual personalities. It’ll be the perfect moment to close out 2024 and welcome 2025.
Chiu, along with Bloom and Morgan, offered their thoughts on the Hanukkah, Christmas and Chinese connection, as well as their favorite recipes.
Learn more about LUNAR and Lanterns & Latkes: weareasianjews.org/events
Vanessa Bloom
Vanessa is a Chinese-Jewish American writer, educator and filmmaker from Orange County, California, who tells heartfelt stories that celebrate the complexity, diversity and humor in life.
What do you think of the connection between Jews and Chinese food, especially on Christmas?
I think what started as a marriage of convenience (both cultures not celebrating Christmas) has turned into a time-honored tradition. To me, it illustrates the connection minorities can have in America, where not being part of the dominant culture can actually give birth to a new, uniquely American tradition. I always think of my Jewish great-grandmother, who immigrated to the U.S. from the Balkans. Her birthday was Dec. 25, so she had Chinese food to celebrate every year in her new country.
How do you celebrate the winter holidays?
What are some of your favorite food-related traditions? My mom’s side is Jewish, and my dad’s side is Christian, so we (very secularly) celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas. One of my favorite traditions is bagels and lox on Christmas morning. This has become my family’s yearly tradition. We do a full spread, and everyone — Jewish and Christian — loves it! On Christmas night we usually either eat Chinese takeout or meet my cousins for dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant owned by a local Muslim Moroccan family!
Why do you love this recipe?
Is there a family/memory connection? My mom and I make these latkes every year. It’s a pretty standard latke recipe, but we add grated ginger! It gives the latkes an extra twist and makes them great for dipping into sweet and sour sauce. This is not an original family recipe, but something my mom and I have adapted together in the last few years, which I feel is fitting because it’s only been in my adulthood that I actually got to embrace my Asian Jewish identity!
Ginger Latke Recipe
Ingredients
3-4 medium russet potatoes, peeled
1 large egg
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (more, if needed)
1 tablespoon grated onion
1-2 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger (to taste)
½ teaspoon salt (or more, to taste)
¼ cup canola/vegetable oil for frying, or as needed
1 teaspoon baking powder
Directions
Grate potatoes into a large bowl. Dry the potatoes with a washcloth or paper towels, pressing out as much water as possible. Mix in the egg, flour, grated ginger, baking powder and salt. Heat the oil in a deep pan — cast iron is preferable. The oil should be hot before putting in the latke mix. Taking about a tablespoon of the latke mixture, flatten it with your hands, then drop into the oil mixture. Wait until it’s golden brown on one side, then flip, around 3-5 minutes each side. Enjoy! Especially delicious with sweet and sour dipping sauce found at any Asian market!
Sophia Morgan
Sophia, a Chinese-Ashkenazi Jew based in Los Angeles, is a trained Authentic Relating practitioner, lifelong dancer, and a passionate advocate for accessibility and disability rights, LGBTQ+ inclusion and racial justice.
What do you think of the connection between Jews and Chinese food, especially on Christmas? How do you celebrate the winter holidays? What are some of your favorite food-related traditions?
Jewish and Chinese people love food, family and saving money. So what better fit than to invite the Jewish side of the family over for homemade Chinese food on Christmas! In our family, this is our annual holiday tradition. We gather our loved ones and enjoy a cozy and festive evening with delicious Chinese food, latkes and brisket.
Why do you love this recipe? Is there a family/ memory connection?
I love this dish because it reminds me of my Shanghainese family and heritage. I would grow up eating this dish in Shanghainese restaurants in Los Angeles, in Shanghai, and at home. Wherever I go to eat it, it’s always a taste of my home and heritage.
Shanghainese Fried Rice Cake
Ingredients
1 pound oval rice cakes (frozen)
8 ounces baby bok choy
2 cloves garlic (coarsely chopped)
3 scallions
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 to 3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3 teaspoons dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons vegan oyster sauce or teriyaki sauce
Dash of ground white pepper, sugar and salt to taste
Directions
Wash the baby bok choy and separate into individual leaves. Coarsely chop the garlic and slice the scallions into thin discs. Oil your pan and heat it on medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add in the white part of the scallions and the garlic, then stir-fry for a minute. Stir in the bok choy, soy sauce and vegan oyster sauce or teriyaki sauce until the bok choy has softened. Create a flat bed of bok choy to prevent rice cake from sticking, then lay the rice cakes evenly on top of the bok choy. Add water to the pan and cover to let the rice cakes steam. Cook until soft. Remove the cover, drizzle in sesame oil, additional soy sauce or teriyaki sauce, white pepper, sugar and salt to taste. Stir-fry everything together another minute over medium heat or until it reaches desired texture. Plate the rice cakes and bok choy, then sprinkle on the rest of the scallion discs (the green part) once complete. Enjoy!
David Chiu
David is the Vice President for Social Justice at Temple Isaiah in West Los Angeles and the Marketing & Communications Manager for The Braid, a Jewish storytelling company. He loves to create warm, meaningful events that bring people together in celebrations of Jewish identity.
What do you think of the connection between Jews and Chinese food, especially on Christmas?
The food is delicious, and many of the restaurants are open on Christmas, but I’ll go deeper than that. Many people have felt a special resonance between Chinese and Jewish cultures. They’ve ascribed it to a shared love of learning and to a common immigrant experience in America, but I’m going to add something else: a long and ancient history and an acute awareness of that history.
When asked, “Why are we doing this?” Tevye’s response of, “Tradition!” rings as powerfully for Chinese culture as it does for Jews. I’ll also say that while most of Chinese history is that of being a world power, and most of Jewish history is that of being a tiny, persecuted minority, for the average person in both cultures, survival was in and of itself a huge victory. The Chinese period drama film To Live, by director Zhang Yimou, captures this idea perfectly. You could watch it side-by-side with Fiddler on the Roof and recognize the same attitude of endurance against the odds.
How do you celebrate the winter holidays? What are some of your favorite food-related traditions?
These days I’m throwing multiple Hanukkah parties through each of the Jewish nonprofits I’m part of, so by the end of the eight days, I’ve had my fill of latkes. I do keep the tradition of a Chinese restaurant on Christmas very much alive, and sometimes that even stretches out to multiple days as different friend groups want to gather for this tradition. (Last year we shook things up by getting some Nepalese food from Tara’s Himalayan Cuisine in Los Angeles — it was absolutely delicious.) And finally, on the evening of Christmas Day (not Christmas Eve, mind you, but rather, when night falls on Christmas Day), I always go over to my partner’s mom’s home for a nice little Christmas dinner that’s just the three of us (plus her cat).
Why do you love this recipe? Is there a family/memory connection?
We didn’t grow up eating spicy Chinese food; my mom isn’t a fan of the heat. But ever since an authentic Sichuanese restaurant opened near us (Sichuan is a region in China famed for its spiciness), my partner and I have become fans of spicy food. In the cold months of winter, a spicy stir-fry is just what I want to warm myself up, and the cilantro and fish sauce add a little tanginess, while the toasted sesame oil helps modulate the heat, and the bell peppers and carrots add some color. If you want to incorporate a Sichuanese element, try adding a little dash of Sichuanese peppercorns when you toss in the cilantro. But how much depends individually on your tastes, so experiment with just a tiny little sprinkle the first time you make it. It creates a numbing sensation that can be strange and surprising the first time you have it, which is why I didn’t include it in this recipe. (But I enjoy it!)
Spicy Stir-Fry
Ingredients
11/2 cups of jasmine rice
1/2 half pound of chicken or tofu
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 cup of chopped onions
1 cup of chopped carrots
1 cup of chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon of cornstarch, thoroughly mixed with 2/3 cup
of warm water
1/4 cup of fish sauce
1/4 cup of toasted sesame oil
1 chopped jalapeno pepper, with seeds
1 tablespoon of white pepper (season to taste)
1/4 cup of peanut or other cooking oil
Directions
Prepare the rice separately in a rice cooker, Instant Pot or regular pot. Follow the directions for the amount of water to add to the rice, depending on what you’re using to cook it. Get a wok or skillet ripping on high heat. Add the cooking oil until the bottom is thoroughly coated. Toss in the carrots, celery, onions and jalapeno. Stir-fry until just starting to brown. Add the protein (chicken or tofu), cilantro and the bell peppers. Stir-fry until the protein is cooked. Add the soy sauce, fish sauce and cornstarch. Stir-fry for an additional 30 seconds to a minute, until thoroughly cooked. There should still be a lot of liquid that hasn’t boiled off. Cut the heat and remove from the stove. Add the cooked rice and the toasted sesame oil. Mix thoroughly. Add in white pepper for extra spiciness until it’s at the level you like.
