Posted on 12/26/2023 12:37:48 PM PST by Red Badger
The holiday tradition of eating Chinese food on Christmas is going strong, according to Yelp data shared with Axios.
The big picture: Yelp searches for Chinese restaurants spike every December. Last year, Christmas Day searches were 99% higher than any other day in the month, the platform told Axios.
It's not just Yelp. Google search interest for "Chinese food" has peaked on Christmas every year since the data became available (in 2004). Zoom in: A lack of restaurants open on Christmas has fueled the trend over the years, and the cuisine is a holiday favorite among many Jewish families.
Rabbi Joshua Plaut, author of the book "A Kosher Christmas: 'Tis the Season to be Jewish," told NPR in 2017 that the Chinese food tradition has been around at least since 1935 — but probably earlier. The first written citation of Jews eating Chinese on Christmas was published in the New York Times in 1935, Plaut said. "The Chinese restaurant was a safe haven for American Jews who felt like outsiders on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day," Plaut told NPR. Flashback: The Jewish tradition was even brought up during Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan's confirmation hearing in 2010 when Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) asked Kagan where she was on Christmas.
"Like all Jews, I was probably at a Chinese restaurant," Kagan said. "No other restaurants are open," Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) added.
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.......a Chinese restaurant is about as unKosher a place as there is for Jews to dine.........
.......True, but you’re only ceremonially ‘unclean’ for a day..........
Authentic Kosher Chinese Restaurant
Our Story Began Over 40 Years Ago
Yacov Holland, the owner and founder of Authentic Kosher Chinese, has always loved sharing great food with the people he loves. For as long as he can remember, Yacov has felt at home in the kitchen.
When he first arrived in America 40 years ago he could barely speak English, but he discovered Chinese food and spent his days obsessing over it, learning how to use chopsticks, and savoring every last bite. He spent many years trying to find just the right spices so that he could recreate those flavors himself.
And now, Yacov is proud to bring that love of Chinese food to his restaurant, Authentic Kosher Chinese. Serving your family high quality delicious meals for lunch, dinner, and catering for your Simchas, so the people you love can enjoy authentic Chinese food too.
While we are in Florida enjoying slightly warm weather, our kids/descendants up north were all gathered together enjoying Chinese take-out. They cooked a huge dinner at Thanksgiving.
I was in shock when my in laws,told me Christmas dinner was to be Chinese take out. True, it was one of the few restaurants open and doing a booming business.
The food was delicious, but it didn’t speak Christmas to me. My family always made it a family home cooked meal. So, Christmas Eve I made a prime rib dinner (with au jus and horse radish) with lemon and parsley buttered new potatoes, bacon wrapped asparagus, pan roasted veggies, mashed cauliflower, and a salad with fresh strawberries, goat cheese and praline pecans in a raspberry vinaigrette dressing. My husband invited his family over. It was cooked to perfection and medium rare. The only thing they like was the potatoes. Ok.
Apparently, the Chinese was preferred? Next year, I told my husband not to invite them. We’ll just do the take out.
I've never heard of American fries--that term must be used outside of America.
In French-speaking countries, French fries are called frites (fries), and in German-speaking countries, Pommes frites (fried potatoes), although the last time I was in Germany, Fritten (fries), a German neologism, was catching on.
Russian food for me!
In the Northeast Jews always had Chinese food and a movie for Christmas.
it was a badge of honor with them.
Everyone else had big dinners.
I have never met a non-Jew who had a Chinese take out Christmas meal.
“Do you know what they call Chinese food in China?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Soul Food.
You can cook Christmas for me!
Seriously?
‘American fries’, at least in the Midwest, was used to describe thin sliced skillet fried potatoes (sometimes cubed) to distinguish them from deep fat fried ‘French fries’, or ‘hash browns’, which have been adopted by fast food places.
The ingredients like beef, rice and vegetables could be kosher. However, the cow wasn’t killed in a kosher fashion. There’s pork and shrimp everywhere, so nothing is kosher.
There are quite a few kosher Chinese restaurants in America and Israel, although the Christmas tradition of Jews and Chinese food didn’t really come from Jews who cared about kosher.
I don’t know about Chinese restaurants, but we usually do finger foods and other non-traditional foods for Christmas dinner. I typically make egg rolls and stir fry vegetables. This year I added roasted pork belly and shrimp toast, homemade Asian dipping sauce for the pork belly and homemade sweet and sour sauce.. And I always make chicken strips, because the kids usually won’t eat the other stuff. Last year I made crab rangoon, but I didn’t want to go to the trouble this year. My SIL is Filipina, so she always makes rice.
American fries are apparently a Midwest dish, because it’s on all the breakfast menus. They’re usually fried potatoes that are first baked or boiled. I microwave a small potato, then slice it and fry it for my husband 5 or 6 times a week with his breakfast. Breakfast is his favorite meal. I hate breakfast, and hate cooking it. The things I do for love!
What you describe sounds like what we in California simply call fried potatoes. I ate plenty of those while growing up. They were served at lunch and dinner, never at breakfast.
What we call fried potatoes are raw fried potatoes, as in the potato is not pre cooked.
American fries are just fried potatoes. Often a choice on breakfast menus. At least in the Midwest and South. Sometimes with onions and peppers added to the mix.
(It was supposed to be a humorous comment.)
It’s our Christmas Eve meal. Feeds 10, under $100. dollars. Leftovers for whomever wants a snack.
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