Stir Pairing: Asian Heritage Month 2023
Celebrating with taiko, tap, a new cake lab, and Korean rice wine
Uzume Taiko. Photo by Keith Robertson
Gold Thorn, Daan Go Cake Lab.
Vanmak Downtown.
Each week, Stir Pairing suggests locally available food and/or drink to go with a local arts event.
The event
Shake the Earth Tap & Taiko Concert, online on demand to 11:30 pm on May 7
The food
Daan Go Cake Lab
The drink
Vanmak
Bonnie Soon, Uzume Taiko.
The lowdown
Drummers and tap dancers unite: Shake the Earth Tap & Taiko Concert is a multidisciplinary collaboration between Uzume Taiko and VanTap Dance Arts Centre in celebration of International Dance Day (April 29) and Asian Heritage Month, which runs all across Canada throughout May.
The free 60-minute performance melds choreographed martial-arts-based taiko-drum songs with dynamic, rhythmic tap dancing and body percussion. Filmed in the intimate cabaret-style setting of the Annex (adjacent to the Orpheum) and available on Uzume Taiko’s YouTube channel, the stream gives audiences a close-up view of performers’ techniques and execution.
Uzume Taiko is Canada’s first professional taiko ensemble. It fuses taiko drums, percussion instruments, flutes, and voices to create music intended to spread peace and happiness. VanTap Dance Arts Centre is home to the VanTap Academy, TapCo, and Vancouver Tap Dance Society.
Daan Go Cake Lab.
The food
Named after the Cantonese word for cake, Daan Go Cake Lab is an East meets West bakery of utmost artistry. Helmed by MasterChef Canada winner Christopher Siu, the newly opened shop in Richmond (100 - 4731 Garden City Road) is the first West Coast location of his Ontario-based chain.
Having grown up in North York and Markham after his parents emigrated from Hong Kong, Siu first became interested in baking after his father made him a cheesecake for his sixth birthday. He taught himself how to bake bread and pastries and kept up his hobby while studying pharmacy, ultimately earning his PhD from the University of Toronto. Siu worked as a pharmacist for two years, saving up enough money to pursue his passion for culinary arts and open Daan Go. He uses traditional French techniques in his fusion of western and Asian ingredients, even drawing on his science background to accomplish tasks like maintaining a certain texture after freezing or reducing sugar content.
Christopher Siu, Daan Go Cake Lab.
3:15 Cake, Daan Go Cake Lab.
Daan Go—which was lined up down the block the day it opened—features signature cakes like the Celebration Pig, made of raspberry chocolate mousse around a chiffon roll with raspberry-sakura Chantilly and cherry-rose confit, all covered in chocolate and resting on a crunchy base. The best-selling 3:15 cake is named after the best time of day at Hong Kong tea houses, consisting of Hong Kong milk tea mousse, Vietnamese coffee crémeux, evaporated milk crémeux, and a base of Ovaltine “pineapple bun” crumb crunch. Gold Thorn is for acquired and adventurous tastes: the outer shell is made of durian mousse, and inside are fresh durian purée, cream cheese, and vanilla chiffon.
Cookies range from Tong Yuen (creamy peanut-butter chips, nutty black sesame, and chewy mochi) to the Campfire: toasted house-made marshmallows, Graham crackers, and milk-chocolate chunks. Then there are Siu’s adorable character macarons in flavours like Vietnamese coffee, matcha, pandan coconut, mango, black sesame, passion fruit, and tiramisu.
The pairing
Vanmak is the newest venture from Lee Bros Winery. The team hand-crafts makgeolli, Korean rice wine, without any preservatives, additives, or aspartame. The team’s goal is twofold: to make the freshest rice wine available and to share Korean culture with others. Made from locally sourced ingredients, the makgeolli comes in flavours such as strawberry, chestnut, citron, and green grape and contains six percent alcohol. Vanmak’s premium takju is a 12-percent ABV rice wine with a creamy taste; cheongju, or Korean sake, is another offering.
Having operated in Surrey for the last 17 years (and still open at 10316 152A Street), Lee Bros Winery is expanding, having just opened Vanmak Downtown. The new rice-wine bar and shop is at 82 Keefer Place.
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