Sizzled five-spice shrimp with red pepper looks impressive, but is easy to make. Credit Karsten Moran for The New York Times

I did not grow up with the New York Jewish tradition of Chinese food and a movie on Christmas Day, a popular custom that purportedly harks back to the beginning of the 20th century (well, maybe not the movie part).

As the story goes, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where immigrants of all stripes lived, Chinese restaurants were the only ones open on Christmas. Though they weren’t kosher kitchens, at least they didn’t mix milk and meat, which is forbidden to observant Jews. (Somehow, the presence of pork and shellfish on the menu was O.K., at least for a day.) Fast-forward a hundred years and the tradition is now deeply entrenched, not just in New York, but throughout the United States.

The secret is to use the best, tastiest shrimp available: the wild variety. Credit Karsten Moran for The New York Times

When I lived in San Francisco, I frequently joined a group of Jewish food professionals around a giant round table for an annual Chinese Christmas banquet organized by Patricia Unterman, a local restaurant critic. Well versed in Chinese cuisine, she knew exactly what to order from all the chef’s specialties at the renowned R & G Lounge. If you wanted a movie, you had to catch it late in the afternoon, because we’d be at the table for hours, dining very well indeed. I still miss that Christmas ritual.

If you feel like staying in, even if it’s not Christmas, this recipe for Chinese sizzled shrimp is rather festive, and, obviously, you don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy it. You don’t even have to own a wok.

What you do need is the best shrimp available. For me, that means wild shrimp, the tastiest. It is a bit of a splurge, so I consider it an occasional treat. Look for wild shrimp from the Eastern Atlantic Coast, the Gulf of Mexico or Alaska. Many fishmongers carry fresh wild shrimp; frozen is the next best choice. If frozen farmed shrimp is the only option, make sure to buy it from a sustainable source. Much of the imported farmed shrimp available is of poor quality and doused in preservatives.

A wok helps, but isn’t necessary. Credit Karsten Moran for The New York Times

You’ll be sprinkling the shrimp with aromatic five-spice powder, a mixture of Sichuan pepper, fennel seed, clove, star anise and cinnamon, available in Asian food stores or easily mixed up at home. For heat, the recipe calls for strips of red, ripe Fresno chiles, available in the produce section of most supermarkets. Use red bell pepper instead if you want to tame the heat, but add at least a little cayenne or rings of another fresh red chile to keep the dish lively.

A little ginger, garlic and sesame complete the seasoning for this quick-cooking and easy but very impressive dinner, festooned with scallions and sprigs of cilantro.

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