Chinese Solution to Turkey Leftovers

Turkey congee topped with cilantro to be extra fancy

If you ate turkey for Christmas dinner, what do you do with the carcass?

Put it in a big pot with some rice and lots of water and let it simmer for a few hours to turn into congee. 

It's a delicious hug in a bowl.

It tastes so comforting you will want to have another bowl!

We had turkey last night and had congee for lunch today.

So good.

Chinese-Canadian Christmas Dinner

Our roasted pig about to be chopped into pieces...

First -- Merry Christmas everyone!

Wishing everyone all the best this holiday season.

This year we decided to forego roast turkey and have roast pig instead!

We had ordered one last year from Neptune BBQ House in Vancouver and it was around C$200 or so, but this year we were shocked to find out it was C$300, and another C$20 to chop it.

Airy meringue with whipped cream and fruit

So we asked around other places, but they too were around C$300... talk about inflation. But, with almost 20 people over for Christmas Eve dinner, we bit the bullet and ordered the roast pig at the said shop.

The pick-up time was 4pm and came five minutes early, only to find they were only halfway through roasting it!

One of the staff was good enough to give us paper cups of tea while we waited.., for half an hour.

It finally emerged from the kitchen and the sifu chopped it cleanly into numerous pieces that were carefully placed in the aluminium platter. Bits including the legs and spine were saved for congee tomorrow.

Following the maxim, "good things come to those who wait", the roast pig really was delicious, the skin a glowing russet colour, and very crispy, while the meat underneath was very tender.

Everyone enjoyed it, along with the baked salmon, Brussels sprouts with apple and bacon, braised beef with turnip, Chinese vegetarian, pickled chayote, roast goose, asparagus, and spare ribs. 

For dessert, a vanilla and strawberry mousse cake and homemade meringue topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit.

Turkeys and Trees are Scarce this Christmas

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Families may have to forego the traditional Christmas turkey

Just as people are gearing up for Christmas in Vancouver, two essentials will be hard to come by this year -- a real tree to decorate and a turkey to gobble up.

There are increasing cases of avian flu in British Columbia, which has resulted in the culling of over 280,000 birds, most of them turkeys as well as ducks, chickens and laying hens. So even the idea of a roast duck for December 25 is out. 

"The BC Turkey Marketing Board tells me that they're looking to be 20 percent short of how much they grow," said Amanda Britten, chief information officer for the BC Poultry Association.

"Turkeys grow for 13 to 15 weeks, so there's no time to grow more before Christmas."

Large number of turkeys contracting avian flu

So if you manage to spot a turkey in the supermarket, buy it right away, otherwise there may be no more later.

And then climate change is causing a shortage of Christmas trees this year.

It takes eight to 12 years for the trees to grow to the size most customers want, but the last two summers have seen extreme heat in the summer, and these young trees don't have deep enough root systems that go beyond the dry layers of soil near the top.

Interestingly the atmospheric rivers that caused massive floods last year didn't affect the trees as much as the heat.

The warmer weather can also cause the trees to be more susceptible to disease, according to Richard Hamelin, head of the forest conservation sciences department at the University of British Columbia.

"Just like humans, when we are stressed or when we're more tired, we're more susceptible to diseases. Well, trees are the same way," he said. "All this added stress from all this heat and flooding make the trees more susceptible to pests and pathogens."

Climate change makes it harder for trees to grow

In addition more and more Christmas tree farms are closing, as it takes nearly a decade to grow the trees to the right size and farmers aren't getting any younger. They are between the ages of 65 and 85 years old and the next generation aren't interested in the business.

The total area of Christmas tree farms shrank by 20,000 acres between 2011 and 2021.

Hopefully this will push more people to opt out of having a tree altogether, or buy a fake one.

What a strange Christmas this year. But then again, change is good! But I will miss having turkey congee on Boxing Day...