35 Asian & Chinese Christmas Recipes

Christmas is a big holiday in Asia. Here are some easy Asian and Chinese Christmas Recipes for you if you're not a fan of roast turkey and want to try unique Christmas recipes from around the world.

Jump to:

• 🥘 Starters
• 🐖 Alternatives to Turkey
• 🍛 Curries
• 🦃 Asian-flavoured Turkey
• 🍥 Seafood
• 🍝 Noodles
• 🥬 Vegetable Sides
• 🥗 Vegetarian & Vegan
• 🍧 Chinese Desserts
• Jewish People and Chinese Christmas Food
• Did You Know?
• 💬 Comments

🥘 Starters

Singaporean Curry Puffs

Curry puffs are great party appetisers as you can batch make them in advance. Although best served hot, they taste good at room temperature too!

Chinese Pumpkin Soup

Potstickers

Every Chinese family has their own homemade dumplings recipe- the shape represents good fortune to the Chinese people!

Note: click here for good potstickers sides.

🐖 Alternatives to Turkey

Instead of getting a turkey for Christmas Dinner- I've never developed much of a taste for turkey as it can get so dry! - why not make 1 of these Asian cuisine alternatives to turkey meals?

12345 Chinese Pork Ribs

Soy Sauce Chicken

This Cantonese Chicken does require quite a long poaching time though, so if you're in a rush, you can try this quicker version.

Note: leftovers are delicious in this rotisserie chicken porridge.

Peking Duck

I'll be honest, Peking Duck is not an easy dish to make, which is why it's great for special occasions such as Christmas! It's also hot to prepare, so perfect for the cooler weather of the Christmas season.

Note: these are some side dishes that go well with Peking Duck.

Eight Treaures Duck

This Shanghainese and Cantonese dish gets its name from the fact that the duck is stuffed with 8 different ingredients, such as glutinous rice, diced mushrooms, water chestnuts, Chinese sausage, Chinese dried shrimp, bamboo shoots, jujubes, salted egg yolks, Jinhua ham, barley, dried lily, red beans, lotus seeds and peanuts

Asian Porkballs

You could also make these delicious Asian pork meatballs which come in a tangy caramel sauce!

Salt and Pepper Pork

Or try these crispy and juicy pepper pork chops!

Fish Sauce Chicken Wings

If you like chicken wings but not fish sauce, try these other Asian chicken wing recipes.

General Tso's Chicken

This sweet and savory deep fried chicken recipe is 1 of the most popular Chinese takeout menu items in USA.

Asian-inspired Beef

The sauce would also go superbly with roast beef!

🍛 Curries

Curries, with all their delicious flavors, are ideal meal prep dishes for parties because they taste better the next day!

Chicken Curry with Pumpkin

Sorpotel Curry

🦃 Asian-flavoured Turkey

5-spice Roast Turkey

For those who are traditionalists at heart, jazz up your turkey by using this Asian spice rub. Get the most flavour by using homemade 5-spice powder- extra can be used in these Chinese 5-spice dishes!

Turkey Balls

A great idea to incorporate turkey into your Christmas menu, but in a new form, is to make these Asian Turkey Meatballs!

🍥 Seafood

Singaporean Assam Fish Curry

Or why not make a fish curry? Curries are great to cook for parties as they heat up so well!

🍝 Noodles

Long noodles are associated with longevity in Chinese culture.

Dan Dan Noodles

For those whose taste buds lean to the spicy, try these Sichuan noodles.

Mee Siam

If you're not a fan of sour soup, try stir-fried Mee Siam, which I find even more delicious!

Bihun Goreng

🥬 Vegetable Sides

Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad

Lao Gan Ma Salad

Fans of the famous chili sauce would love this easy and refreshing side dish!

Cabbage Salad

Soy Mushrooms

Note: the soy butter sauce is also delicious mixed with popcorn.

Garlic Mushrooms

Note: if you love these fungi, click here for more delicious Asian mushroom dishes.

🥗 Vegetarian & Vegan

If you're not a meat eater, you can still cook up a delicious Asian Christmas meal. Veggies don't always have to be an afterthought, they can be the star of the feast too!

Kung Bao Cauliflower

Vegan Bao Buns

🍧 Chinese Desserts

Auspicious Koi Fish Jelly

Chinese Peanut Cookies

They're usually made for Chinese New Year, but Chinese Peanut Cookies make a great after-dinner snack for Christmas too!

Vegan Egg Tarts

Chinese Walnut Cookies

Pumpkin Cake

Instead of Pumpkin Pie, why not try this much easier to make, soft and gooey sweet treat?

Bird's Nest & Wolfberries in Coconut

Bird's nest is often on the menu during special occasions, such as weddings, so why not at Christmas? Serve it in a coconut for presentation points!

Note: If you end up with more coconut than you need, here are some ways to cook with coconut water.

Jewish People and Chinese Christmas Food

Did you know that American Jews have the tradition of eating Chinese cuisine on Christmas Day?

You may be wondering what's the connection between Jewish immigrants and chow mein, lo mein, dim sum and egg rolls. Well, here are some of them:

• Jewish and Chinese immigrants lived in close proximity on the Lower East side, New York City
• Chinese restaurant owners welcomed Jewish families.
• Chinese dishes are usually free of dairy, and they look relatively kosher (as any pro is usually presented in a non-obvious way.)
• Chinese Food Restaurants are open on Christmas!

Did You Know?

• Celebrating Christmas is a relatively modern tradition for in China.
• Christmas Eve is translated as "Ping An Ye" (literally Safe Night), so gifting apples for the holiday season is 1 of the Christmas traditions in China (translated as "Ping Guo" and thus a homonym.)

Here's wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas!

If you've found something to serve during Christmas time from this list of Asian and Chinese Christmas Dishes, why not subscribe to my Asian food newsletter?