We've got that oppressed minority bond going on...

Pastrami egg rolls and Chinese hot dogs from Eden Wok on 34th Street

As Christmas approaches in less than a week, I want to take a moment to celebrate the culinary kinship between the Chinese and the Jew.

What do any of these elements have in common? Well, for starters, Chinese and Jews are two of the largest ethnic enclaves in America which do not traditionally celebrate Christmas. Secondly, Chinese cuisine, with its heavy use of garlic and onion seasonings, and pronounced lack of dairy products, tends to be inadvertently Kosher and friendly to Jewish palates. Throw in the usual stereotypes about model minorities and aptitude in mathematics, and you've got a match made in heaven.

Ergo, since nearly everything else is closed, if you're a Jew, your only option on Christmas is to go out for Chinese food and see a movie. This relationship has been explored in quite a few academic papers and parodied in many a song. Up till now though, I haven't seen any evidence of cross-pollination between the culinary regimes.

Enter the pastrami egg roll and Chinese hot dog, profiled today in the NYT. I'm not sure if the new hybrids would be superior to the original versions, but it's worth a shot. What'll they come up with next? Gefilte fish wontons? Red bean challah?

If Chinese food has become such a staple of American Jewish diets, why is the converse not true? I'll be in New York this weekend, eating my way through the Lower East side and keeping an eye out for Asians in Katz's Deli.