Savoury Oriental Christmas Dishes

When it comes to Christmas in the UK, there is little room for change. We have a roast turkey, and all the trimmings, before tucking into a Christmas pud in front of the television. However, these traditions haven’t made it all around the world, with many countries adopting their own alternative methods of celebrating Christmas through food.

In Eastern countries, Christianity is a minority religion in many countries, and so the religious meaning of the day is ignored. For many, this means that the Christmas period is not treated as a holiday, so massive cooking endeavours as attempted in Britain are less common. Instead, eating out, or more traditional oriental dishes are eaten on the day. In Japan, for example, KFC has been eaten as Christmas dinner since an incredibly successful marketing strategy made the tradition of ‘Kentucky for Christmas’ take off in the Seventies!

Eight Treasures Duck (八宝鸭, phonetically bā bǎo yā)

One traditional Chinese dish is the Eight Treasure Duck. This dish is becoming a little less common in recent years, yet it is still eaten on special occasions. The duck is stuffed with eight different ingredients, plus spices and flavourings, hence the eight treasures aspect. A typical selection of stuffing ingredients would be: diced chicken, smoked ham, peeled shrimp, fresh chestnuts, bamboo shoots, dried scallops and mushrooms stir-fried with rice, soy sauce, ginger, spring onions, white sugar and rice wine.

Follow the recipe below if you want to brave making this traditional dish:

For the duck:

1 whole duck

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp 5 spice powder

8 tbsp caster sugar

8 cups water

6 stalks lemongrass

8 star anise pods

4 cinnamon sticks

For the stuffing:

1 cup Lap Cheong (a type of Chinese Sausage), cut into thin strips

2 tbsp dried shrimp

2 tbsp soy sauce

1-2 stalks of spring onion

5 dried shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced

¼ cup of chestnuts

¼ cup of lotus seeds

½ cup of bamboo shoots

½ cup of glutinous rice

1 tbsp of rice wine

Method:

1) Coat the duck in soy sauce and marinate it overnight in the fridge.

2) Combine the stuffing ingredients and fill the duck with it.

3) Add the water, sugar, soy sauce, lemongrass, star anise, cinnamon sticks and 5 spice powder in a large stockpot. Bring to a boil.

4) Reduce the heat to a medium and gently lower the duck into it. The liquid should cover the whole bird.

5) Cover half of the pot with a lid and simmer for around an hour.

6) Turn off the heat and leave the duck to rest in the pot for another hour before you serve it.

If you would like to try something a little easier, or don’t quite fancy an eight times stuffed duck, then why not attempt to make this simple beef and rice dish?

Spicy Steamed Beef with Rice

500g Beef braising steak

75g Thai rice

1 star anise

1 cinnamon stickMarinade:

1 ½ tbsp. chilli bean paste

1 tbsp fermented beancurd

2 tsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp finely chopped ginger

4 tbsp stock

2 tbsp Shaoxing wine

½ tsp ground chillies

2 tsp sesame oil

2 cloves of crushed garlic

2 spring onionsMethod:

1) Mix together all of the marinade ingredients in a bowl.

2) Cut the beef into slices. Place the strips into the bowl to marinade.

3) Stir the uncooked rice with star anise and cinnamon in a wok for around 10 minutes.

4) Mix the rice and beef with 75ml water. Place in a heatproof bowl and steam for around 2 hours.

5) Top the dish with chillies, pepper, sesame oil and spring onions. Serve!

Will you be trying either of these dishes for a change this Christmas? Make sure you have all of the chilli, sauce, oils, pastes and other ingredients you need for the dishes you want to create. Check out the range available at Oriental Mart to make your meal a success!