We are a mixed family. My daughter-in law and her sisters celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. My neice and I come from a family that celebrates Christmas on Christmas Day. I won’t go into all the details of how this works out–basically it’s a two day feast–but we have ended up with a new tradition: eating dim sum in Chinatown on Christmas morning.
We go to Ocean Seafood where literally thousands of us munch our way through small plates of yummy deliciousness, mostly variations on shrimp and lobster. Most of their dim sum is steamed, but they do make baked dim sum filled with sweet red beans and seasoned pork–two kinds I particularly like.
This year my granddaughter wanted to get a Christmas present for a friend and decided to make it tea. And that’s when I discovered blossoming tea at a store just around the corner from Ocean Seafood. (My granddaughter, of course, knew all about it already.) These teas start out as round brown balls that look like something you’d find in a barnyard, but put one in a clear teapot and the flower blooms. Then you drink the tea. This store also has a tea sampling bar and I tried the Mulberry Tea. It was okay, but was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I’m not much of a tea drinker.
Now there is another tradition in Los Angeles for Christmas: tamales. All the TV stations cover the tamale frenzy that occurs the day before Christmas when long lines extend out of various tamale shops. And Trader Joe’s makes a big deal about selling tamales imported from Mexico especially for Christmas. I love a good, freshly made tamale, especially for breakfast, but not on Christmas. On that day our family sticks with dim sum.
I would love to welcome you as a new subscriber to LA City Pix.
The subscription is free so sign up today.
