Ditch the Turkey. Get other Poultry.

This Christmas you can order duck or chicken in Chinatown for your big dinner feast.

Chinatown Poultry
Turkeys eaten in 2013 Turkeys Facts in 2012

Americans consumed 46 million turkeys on Thanksgiving and 22 million turkeys on Christmas day in 2013, according to the National Turkey Federation. Turkey is a traditional American dish served during the holidays along with mashed potato, pumpkin pie, corn bread, etc. However, there are a lot of immigrants living in the U.S. Although these holidays may be widely celebrated here., they may not be celebrated or recognized in these immigrants’ home countries. While some have embraced the American cultures, others may use this occasion as an opportunity to review and practice traditions from their home country. Restaurants in Los Angeles Chinatown offers alternative holiday menus that can help the latter group achieve its goal in 2015.

In the recent years, some Chinatown restaurants have started offering Peking duck, tea smoked chicken, and other Chinese style prepared poultry as alternatives to serving turkey for the holidays. In November 2015, Chinatown turned this new tradition into a neighborhood wide initiative “L.A. Chinatown Restaurants Take on Poultry,” with ninetenn local restaurants participating this year.


Plum Tree Inn has been serving Yang Chow style poultry dishes for 36 years in Chinatown, and it started offering the alternative menu many years ago. Elaine Ting, manager of the restaurant, believes it is important to offer this special menu.

“America is represented by so many cultures,” Ting said. “I don’t think we need to stick to one tradition. I think we can choose to have turkey one year, choose to have Peking duck one year, and maybe have meatball another year.”

She thinks it is important for people to embrace and practice local traditions as they move to different places. But she believes it is even more important for people to continue to channel their original cultural practices in order to create their own unique identity, especially through food. Many agree that food is an essential component of cultures.

“I think food is very attached to our cultures and traditions,” said Louisa Rodriguez, who was visiting Chinatown with her niece from Mexico. “For me, all the Mexican traditions I enjoyed, even though I have been living here (Costa Mesa) for 22 years, I still enjoy our traditions.”

Rodriguez believes that the menu will encourage new immigrants, especially Asians who may not have celebrated American holidays before, to participate in the celebration with their own twist. However, some restaurants in Chinatown are slowly assimilating or adapting. Instead of the traditional Chinese style poultry, they added the American style poultry to their menus this year.

“Our restaurant serves mostly non-Chinese customers,” said Alex Zhen, manager of Mandarin Chateau. “Both Chinese and non-Chinese customers would bring in their own turkey or chicken and ask us to season and prepare it the American way.”

Zhen said most Chinese people who come to Chinatown are second-generation, so many have practiced and embraced the American traditions. However, some do ask for Peking or tea smoked duck because their parents prefer those over gravy and stuffed turkeys, and honey ham for the holidays.

Golden Dragon Restaurant in Old Chinatown also adopted the “American” holiday menu.

“I think it is important for us to include menus that would appeal to larger customer bases here in Chinatown,” said Quan Ming, manager of Golden Dragon Restaurant. “Holiday is a great opportunity to boost our sales, so we added the American style prepared turkeys for Thanksgiving and maybe even through Christmas, depending on customers’ needs.”

Like Ming said, holiday feast really depends on the individual’s needs. But some people think ethnic groups in the U.S. should continue to stay true to their original traditions.

“One thing I find a little bit sad about the way that food is evolving in many places is that it is becoming increasingly Americanized and losing that link to culture,” said Talia Gibas, who enjoys taking opportunities to explore and try non-American activity and food. “I would like to see more continuously, authentic link with just weird stuff anywhere on the menu, that is my hope. I like eating interesting things and I want to have more things to continue to be available to be eaten by me.”

Some, like Gibas, wished Chinatown advertised the alternative menu a little better and earlier so they would have known about it and planned on it for this year.

Turkeys ate and raised in 2013

“We would definitely try it,” said Bridgette Thelen, who was visiting Chinatown with her daughter Hannah to discover new experiences and explore new cultures. “We look for something different, we’re not stuck in our traditions. If there is a different experience, we are definitely into it.”

Holiday traditions are not huge concerns for the Thelens. But for some households, it is one reason that prevents them from changing what they serve for the big feast.

“I would not mind switching (to eating Chinese style poultry),” said Diony Fernandez who usually eats in ABC Seafood with her kids because they can get small portions of different Chinese food at the restaurant. “But not on the holidays. It is not a traditional American feast that you would serve, but maybe as an option for a side dish. I think it is important to try to stick to the traditions, the norms, the turkey, ham, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pies.”

No matter what is on your holiday menu or how you choose to celebrate it this year, many believe that it all comes down to one thing. It is all about spending quality time with friends and family, and making every memory counts as we move on, to the new year.