Christmas Dinner 2008: Chinese Style Stuffed Duck

I had a late departure on Christmas Eve for Montréal. In addition, it rained during the whole drive which made the roads icy and slippery. So I arrived at my sister's and her boyfriend D's condo at 8:30 pm, with everyone ready to eat!



Although my sister L does not have a blog, she also does enjoy food. We (including our mom) had much discussion on what should be made. She was thinking of Asian food but she also wanted a whole bird. We came up with xôi vịt (sticky rice and duck) and vịt tiềm thuốc bắc (duck with Chinese medicinal stuffing). Not really remembering if she liked the latter, my sister asked my mom to make xôi vịt. I suggested having quails if she wanted "whole birds".

The Menu

* Fried Quails

* Chả Giò (Spring Rolls)

* Gỏi (Vietnamese salad) served with Bánh Phồng Tôm (Shrimp Crackers)
* Xup Bát Bửu (Chinese 8 Treasure Soup)

* Vịt Quay stuffed with Xôi Vịt

* Chestnut Bûche de Noël

* Black Forest Cake

Quails, on a bed of watercress, make for a great little treat!

This vegetarian gỏi comprised of cabbage, carrots, celery and topped with mint.


You cannot have gỏi without bánh phồng tôm (that I brought home from Vietnam!).

Chả giò is a classic; you never get tired of them!


My plate was full and they're only starters!


I love this soup and for no particular reason, we usually have it for the holidays.

Even though the purpose of having quails was to have "whole birds", my mom decided to get a vịt quay (Chinese BBQ'd duck). This means that she had to fight the Christmas crowds to buy two ducks, one for the vessel and the second for the stuffing. After stuffing the bird, my mom put it in the oven for another hour. My sister and I love, love, love xôi vịt, sticky rice with pieces of duck, mushroom and Chinese sausage. Yum!

Stuffed vịt quay.

Close-up of stuffing.

Pieces of duck with xôi vịt.

Finally for dessert, we couldn't just have one... My mom made a Black Forest Cake while my sister made a Chestnut Bûche de Noël, firsts for both of them.

Black Forest Cake covered with real whipped cream.

My sister did a good job with her bûche de Noël.

By this time, I was overstuffed!

My mom and my sister did a great job cooking Christmas dinner. D and my sister were also great hosts. My only contribution was eating. Thank you!