Traditionalists will tell you that Christmas dinner just doesn't feel complete without a roasted whole turkey as its centrepiece. The more daring, however, may want to try a new spin on this holiday favourite: Chinese-style barbecue turkey. With its reddish skin and sweet-savoury flavour, it's a dish that not only tastes (and looks) spectacular but also reflects Vancouver's multiethnic history.

Jim Wong-Chu, Ricepaper publisher and local Asian-food guru, takes time to meet with the Straight to recount the origins of the Chinese-style turkey. "From what people tell me," he says, "this tradition started way back in the olden days, when none of the Chinese had ovens in their homes. So on special occasions, they asked the local barbecue houses to roast the turkey for them." Prepared much like a traditional roasted duck, the turkey had crisply seared skin, marinade sauce, and better-preserved juices than the oven-roasting birds. "Even now, when most people have their own ovens, people crave that barbecue taste," he says.

As proof of this, many barbecue houses in Chinatown still cater to that tradition. At Kwong Hing Co. Ltd (228 East Pender Street, 604-681-1939) and Dollar Meat Store (266 East Pender Street, 604-681-0536), turkey is sold at $4.99 a pound and can be ordered in advance. As with most stores in Chinatown, Cantonese is the lingua franca among staff: Wong-Chu advises that non-Cantonese speakers may want to order through a translator to avoid miscommunication.

These barbecue houses sell by the pound for customers who wish to buy only a small portion, but whole turkeys can also be purchased year round from Hon's Wun-Tun House (various locations). Speaking by phone, Simon Lee, the restaurant's executive manager, says, "We started making the dish around 1993, because there was a real market in Vancouver. Today, our customers are about 50 percent Asian, 50 percent non-Asian." He adds that for $199, Hon's offers the complete Christmas meal, which includes a 4.5-kilo barbecued turkey, six different dishes of rice, chow mein, meat, vegetables, and desserts.

Regarded as a curiosity by many, the Chinese turkey is indelibly etched in the memories of many Chinese-Canadians in Vancouver: "I've actually only ever had Chinese-style turkey-if I could define it as being soy-sauce-based-because that's what my mom makes," says Michelle Siu, a young advertising manager at Ricepaper. Laughing, she adds that it was always "special" when she could have instant gravy from a box, because of the absence of the "weird spices" of her own mother's turkey. Different cultures, same tradition.

Chinese turkey doesn't typically come with stuffing, but Wong-Chu himself substitutes with "sticky-rice stuffing with mushrooms and Chinese sausage". "It's really quite a treat," he assures, after pausing to anticipate the sumptuous, distinctive Christmas turkey he'll be having in a few short weeks.