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Eating in Chinese restaurants on Christmas has a particular history in New York.

As a child reveling in the wonders of Christmas, I didn’t think about what friends from other faith traditions did on the big day. Most stores and entertainment venues are closed. Most restaurants, too. But, fortunately, there are Chinese restaurants.

At Mental Floss, Kirstin Fawcett writes, “For Jewish New Yorkers, scoring a seat at one of veteran restaurateur Ed Schoenfeld’s Chinese eateries on Christmas Day could be compared to a holiday miracle. ‘I think on that day we do more business than many restaurants do in three months,’ Schoenfeld told Mental Floss in 2017. ‘We serve all day long, we stay open all day long.’

“Schoenfeld is the Jewish owner-operator of RedFarm, an Asian-fusion dim sum restaurant. … While his expertise lies in Far Eastern cuisine, Schoenfeld grew up in Brooklyn and learned to cook from his Eastern European grandmother. And just like his customers, Schoenfeld and his family sometimes craved Chinese food on Christmas, eschewing homemade fare for heaping plates of chow mein and egg foo yung. The future restaurateur’s grandmother kept a kosher kitchen, but outside the home all dietary laws flew out the window with the single spin of a Lazy Susan. Suddenly, egg rolls with pork were fair game, transfigured into permissible delicacies through hunger and willful ignorance. …

“Jews developed their love for all things steamed, stir-fried, and soy-sauced after leaving the Old Country. Between the mid-1800s and the 1930s, waves of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, Germany, and Greece began settling in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a gritty, inexpensive neighborhood teeming with tenements, docks, and factories—and filled with synagogues and kosher butcher shops. ‘You started here, and then moved on,’ Sarah Lohman, author of Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine, said.

“While Jewish immigrants found community on the Lower East Side, ‘there was a lot of discrimination against Jews at the turn of the century,’ Lohman added. ‘They were often criticized not only for not dressing like Americans and not speaking the language, but also for not converting to an “American” religion.’

“Right next door to the burgeoning Jewish community on the Lower East Side was the city’s nascent Chinatown. Many Chinese immigrants had initially come to the U.S. to work on the Transcontinental Railroad. After its completion in 1869, these laborers faced violence and discrimination in the western states. They came to New York City seeking new business opportunities, and some opened restaurants.

“By and large, Chinese restaurateurs didn’t discriminate against Jewish customers. Joshua Eli Plaut wrote in his book A Kosher Christmas: ‘Tis the Season to be Jewish that the Chinese, as non-Christians, didn’t perceive any difference between Anglo-Saxon New Yorkers and Jewish immigrants.

They accepted all non-Chinese customers with open arms.

“Jewish customers embraced Chinese food in return. The restaurants were conveniently located and inexpensive, yet were also urbane in their eyes. … According to Yong Chen, a history professor and author of Chop Suey, USA: The Story of Chinese Food in America, ‘[Diners] were attracted to Chinese food because, in their mind, it represented American cosmopolitanism and middle class status.’ And they weren’t deterred by the fact that food in Chinese restaurants wasn’t kosher. But they could easily pretend it was.

“Dairy wasn’t a big part of Chinese meals, so Jewish diners didn’t have to worry about mixing meat and milk (a no-no in kosher diets). And non-kosher ingredients like pork or seafood were often finely chopped, drowned in sauces, or mixed with other ingredients, like rice. These elements were well disguised enough that they could pass for more permissible forms of meat. ‘You could kind of willfully ignore that there might be pork in there,’ Lohman said. ‘It’s like a vegetarian eating a soup that has chicken stock. If you’re a little flexible about your Judaism, you would just “not notice” the pork in your fried rice.’

“Chinese food was exotic and new, filled with surprising flavors, ingredients, and textures. But for some Eastern European Jews, it also had familiar elements. Both Eastern European and Chinese cuisines shared an affinity for sweet and sour flavors and egg-based dishes. ‘[Chinese restaurants] had these pancakes, which were like blintzes,’ said Joan Nathan, author of King Solomon’s Table: A Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking from Around the World, and the wontons resembled kreplach (both are meat-filled soup dumplings).

“The fact that the Chinese and Jews were America’s two largest non-Christian immigrant populations brought them together, Jennifer 8. Lee, author of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food, told Mental Floss in 2017. Unlike, say, Italian restaurants, Chinese restaurants were open on Sundays and on Christian holidays. They also lacked religious imagery, which may have made them appear more welcoming for Jews. …

“Yet, an unwavering affection for Chinese food wasn’t shared by all Jews. In an example cited by Chen and Lee, a reporter for Der Tog (The Day), a Yiddish daily newspaper in New York City, noted in 1928 that Jewish diners were in danger of drowning their culinary roots in soy sauce. To take back their taste buds, Jewish-Americans should hoist protest signs reading ‘Down with chop suey! Long live gefilte fish!’ the journalist joked.

“But Jewish cookbooks had already begun including Americanized dishes like chop suey and egg foo yung, which Chinese chefs had specially created to appeal to homegrown appetites. And as Lower East Side Jews moved to different neighborhoods, boroughs, and suburbs, Chinese restaurants followed them.

“By the mid-20th century, Nathan said, Chinese restaurants had become de facto social clubs in Jewish communities. Familiar faces were always present, children were always welcome, and eating with your hands wasn’t just encouraged—it was required. …

“Thanks to immigration patterns, nostalgia, and convenient hours of operation, this culinary custom has stuck around. … Schoenfeld, the Manhattan restaurateur, said, ‘It’s become a tradition, and it’s extraordinary how it’s really grown.’ ”

More at Mental Floss, here.