If your taste buds called for Asian delicacies in 1972, there were three options in Lansing: Yat Wah Restaurant on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing, Foo Ying Cafe on East Michigan Avenue in Lansing, and House of Ing on South Cedar Street.
Mr. and Mrs. Cham Ngok Ing opened the House of Ing restaurant in 1967. They ran the business with their two sons, Paul and Mike, and their nephew Tony Mai. The exterior of the restaurant was distinctive for the painted signs of green bodied, red faced dragons spurting fire. House of Ing specialized in Cantonese food, speedily prepared on special cooking utensils. Cantonese dishes had to be cooked quickly to retain crispness and the flavor of the vegetables. Meals could not be prepared ahead of time or they would get soggy.
Yat Wah meant "nice-delightful" place to dine. The new brick-fronted restaurant was owned and operated by Jack Lee, who was well-known for his former restaurant, Jack's Chinese Foods, a carryout place on East Michigan Avenue. Many of the recipes were his own, which he would offer as specials of the day. If they were well-liked, he added them to the menu. One of those dishes was Chow Fun, cooked with Chinese-style rice noodles made with rice flour. Other customer favorites were Yat Wah style chicken chunks and the house variety of chop suey, with a choice of barbecued pork, chicken, beef, pork or shrimp.
By 1972, the restaurant had added an elegant dining room and, in 1977, Yat Wah closed its East Lansing restaurant and opened a new, larger location at 301 N. Clippert, across from Frandor, with an expanded menu. Perkins Pancake House previously occupied the site. By 1978, Yat Wah applied for a liquor license.
Napoleon Ching purchased the House of Ing in 1986. He expanded his businesses by purchasing Yat Wah restaurant in 1989, and then opening Pandas Restaurant and Lounge at 6031 S.
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The Tradition of Chinese Food on Christmas
This weekend, many stores and restaurants will be closed for Christmas. But there is one group of businesses who thrive when most everyone else takes the day off.
According to Henry Kwok, co-owner of Asian Buffet in Okemos, MI, “We can’t call it 'steady' anymore. It’s busy like Black Friday all day.” Kwok also runs an adjoining restaurant, Henry’s Place, as well a banquet hall behind both establishments. However, only one of the restaurants will be open on December 25th. “Asian Buffet has never closed for Christmas, it’s always been open. Henry’s Place will be closed, because we don’t want to encourage drinking on that day.”
For Kwok, Christmas Day was always a tradition, but it took an act of Mother Nature to truly pack the diners in. “Asian Buffet has been open for about 20 years, and we were very busy the last 17 years for Christmas. It’s always been steady. But then the ice storm hit 3 years ago- or 2 years ago, and no one had power except for us. And everybody started flocking in on Christmas Day, and then we’ve never slowed down since on Christmas. So, it’s been a blessing and it’s been a curse.”
Kwok even brings in extra staff, all working at time-and-a-half for the holiday. Asian Buffet also opens up the banquet hall in the back to accommodate an extra 150 diners bringing the grand total of the Christmas Day capacity to approximately 500 guests at a time. “For this kind of busyness, we normally have enough stock in place, in the house. Because the one year with the ice storm, we were caught off guard. We almost didn’t have anything left in the fridge or the kitchen. But we are prepared every year for this now.” says Kwok.
“I’m Jewish, so I do eat Chinese food on Christmas, it’s something I’ve heard before.” Says Robyn Hughey of MSU Hillel. “I hadn’t really heard of why we do it, or what the historical context behind it."
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"I was talking to my husband about it, and I just kind of assumed that it’s because that’s all that was open at the time. I mean a lot of places obviously close. And it’s definitely a social scene when you go to a Chinese restaurant on Christmas as a Jew, for sure. You see everyone.
Chanukah always occurs on the 25th day of Kislev on the Hebrew Calendar, and for 2016, that means the first of the 8 nights of celebration begins on sundown of December 24th. But to Robyn Hughey, that likely won’t change any Chinese food plans this weekend. “I think Jews love the tradition of going and getting Chinese food. I think that’s something people enjoy doing. I think it just might be ‘Let’s go get Chinese food and then light the Menorah.’ But people might be having Chanukah parties too, I’m not really sure. I guess it’s up to every individual.
Chinese food has become a Christmas tradition for American Jews
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