March 11th, 2011 by Dawn Becker

Leslieville is seeing some shopping additions lately including a new fish market called Hooked. They recently opened their doors and I’m excited to visit soon. Also new in the area is The Foodist Market that touts itself as a one-stop grocer for people who value what they eat and where it comes from. Their new website is here.

Full disclosure here, the owner of The Foodist Market, Dolores Golob, has been a friend of mine for many years. We’ve spent countless evenings dining together and chatting about the dishes we love to cook, recounting the places we’ve traveled and eaten at, and sharing our most vivid food memories. So it was no surprise to me when Dolores decided to open The Foodist Market.

Good food is a priority to Dolores and The Foodist Market does not fail to take her philosophy about food from the farm to the table and make it accessible to her neighbours. Leslieville has been crying out for a decent produce shop for years and The Foodist Market has answered, conveniently located at 1129 Queen Street East, between Pape and Jones Avenue. The market carries a varying selection of certified organic and conventional fresh fruits and seasonal vegetables…

… locally sourced deli meats and dairy from Ontario and Québec,

… standard and specialty cuts of meat from local farmers raising animals in a humane environment with no antibiotics, hormones, or animal by-products in the feed,

… as well as an assortment of dry goods and a soon to be expanded line of prepared take home foods.

If we want to keep our local shops vibrant we need to support them so next time you’re in the area make The Foodist Market one of your stops. The Foodist Market is still in its infancy but if customer comments since it opened a few short weeks ago are any predictor, the market is certain to grow and develop into a vital and essential shop in Leslieville. Come on in. You might just find me behind the cash register lending a helping hand in support of my long-time foodie foodist friend.

Note: As an aside, this blog post was written using Dragon NaturallySpeaking, a speech recognition software that helped me type this post without using my still recovering injured hand. It was actually fun to use. I’d recommend this program to anyone who has arm, hand or wrist issues or anyone who wants a break from typing and wants to try dictation.

December 17th, 2010 by Dawn Becker

My latest trip to the St. Lawrence Market was fruitful. Oh that was a bad pun but not entirely intentional. I purchased two rare items from the market.

The first item was from Chris’ Cheesemongers. If you hurry you might still find some small-sized containers of burrata.

Burrata is fresh mozzarella cheese that comes from Puglia in southern Italy. The outside is a fresh pulled curd cheese made from buffalo milk that becomes the casing for a filling of luscious cream and stracciatella cheese (not to confused with the soup) which essentially comes from the word “torn apart” in Italian.

While Chris’ Cheesemongers usually have the softball sized burrata, what’s unique is that they were carrying a small selection of baby burrata, I believe because the regular size wasn’t available at the time.

This couldn’t be more perfect for me. I’m always loathe to waste anything delicious and a find as sweet as burrata must be eaten fresh and preferably all in one sitting. Once you cut into the burrata the insides ooze out and it’s virtually impossible to save it for longer than that. The baby burrata is just the right size for two tapas style or as part of a caprese salad. Or if you’re like me, it’s good for one, on a greedy night with a glass of wine and some crostini drizzled with olive oil. Yum. The cost for the baby burrata was $12.99 when I went earlier this week. (Added note: Allow the burrata to come to room temperature before eating. It will make the difference between delicious and to-die-for.)

The second hard-to-find, buy-them-when-you-see-them item were P.E.I. Scallops in the Shell from Mike’s Fish Market. Going for $8.99 a pound, if you’ve ever wanted to make “singing scallops” as I knew cooked scallops in the shell to be called from my Granville Island days growing up in Vancouver, you’ll know what a real treasure these are.

The clerk told me that they usually have scallops in the shell during the holiday season so keep your eye out for them. I think a pound, as shown above, is good for two as an appetizer. Cook them like mussels so throw whatever flavour base you wish in the pot and then steam until they open. Scallops are naturally salty so you won’t need to add much, if any salt and be careful if you’re using an Asian base of soy or fish sauce. I like mine with garlic, shallots, and white wine with a crusty baguette for soaking up the sauce.

October 19th, 2010 by Dawn Becker

Recently, Food Bomb commented on my post about onigiri and suggested I check out J-Town to investigate other varieties available. Driving north to Markham was a familiar trek as I commuted to work at a small ad agency, Greaves & Allen Studios, for a few years. I was young, green and full of the hubris of a 20 year-old. There, I learned how to write ad copy and manage projects, worked with an eclectic creative team, and saw how to service a client, all skills I use now.

While I didn’t find anything more than ho-hum salmon onigiri in J-Town (admittedly only two visits), I am glad I went so I could discover Famu. Famu is a butcher shop dedicated to naturally raised, drug-free, roaming animals including beef, pork and poultry. They offer harder-to-find Japanese cuts and also tasty traditional North American cuts. Products include beautifully marbled Canadian Prime Grade dry aged (28 days) Rib Eye Steaks, Striploin, Short Ribs, and more, mostly raised in Ontario.

You can also make special orders as I did for my Thanksgiving dinner this year. That dinner consisted of two gigantic Mennonite Roaster Chickens (raised chemical-free in a free-range environment) and one specially ordered, naturally-raised, bone-in cottage-style ham locally smoked with care.

Pictured below is trimmed Australian Wagyu Flat Iron steaks (also known as Hangar Steaks). Wagyu translates as “Japanese cow” and is a special breed of cattle that genetically produces well marbled meat and a high percentage of tasty fat. Wagyu beef raised in Kobe, Japan is also known as Kobe beef, a name you might be more familiar with.

I quickly marinated the Flat Iron in a Chinese dressing of soy, miso, sesame oil and sugar. Truthfully, it was out of habit and I promptly swung my hand to my head (doh!) when I realized it would have been better to eat it simply with a bit of salt and pepper seasoning.

I got over it after I pulled the strips out of the pan, cut off a slice and stuffed that tender morsel into my watering mouth. Mmm. There is no ruining Wagyu beef, except I suppose if you overcook it and that can happen fast. Wagyu is best served rare or at most, medium-rare, as the fat dissolves quickly in the heat of the pan and the meat almost disintegrates if cooked for too long. What a waste that would be!

A little Wagyu beef goes a loooong way and that’s good because the cost of Wagyu anywhere is extraordinary. At Famu, the cuts are a reasonable size and priced accordingly. You can get a single portion and give it a try or you can sample the gamut of options including a melt-in-your-mouth cut specifically for shabu shabu or Japanese hot pot. You can pre-order a tray of your choice of paper-thin Wagyu rib eye slices or other shabu shabu cuts.

The next time you find yourself up the 404 towards Markham, stop in J-Town and make sure you check out the wonderful array of natural products available at Famu. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. And remember, if you don’t see it, ask Seiko (the owner) if she can get it for you.

August 29th, 2010 by Dawn Becker

When you hear someone say menudo do you think of hot, young Latin men in a famous singing group that launched Ricky Martin’s career? Or are you like me, and immediately start drooling, not because of Ricky Martin but instead, envisioning a large steaming bowl of a traditional Mexican soup made with tripe, laced with chile peppers, hominy (a large dried corn kernel but not as sweet as the peaches and cream corn we’re used to) and topped with cilantro and a fresh squeeze of lime juice.   Above a closer look at a piece of soft tripe after it’s been simmered till tender on the stove top. Not at all as frightening as one would suspect when thinking about having a piece of stewed beef stomach. Sometimes the broth is clear and other times it’s red from the type of chile used in the soup, making a version known as menudo rojo.

Anecdotally thought to be a hangover cure, menudo is delicious anytime, even for breakfast. It can be served with warmed tortillas used to scoop the tender tripe and then topped with pico de gallo made of chopped fresh tomato, onion and jalapeno (or whatever chile is preferred) marinated in salt and lime juice. While it’s hard to find menudo on restaurant menus in Toronto – it’s a home-style dish more commonly reserved for family meals – you can find the Salvadoran version of menudo, called pancita, regularly at Tacos El Asador.

But why not make it at home, the way millions of Mexican families do, simmering a pot of menudo slowly on the stove. It is surprisingly simple to make. I would start with a trip to T&T Supermarket where they have a fairly large selection of offal including tripe. Just look for “Assorted Guts”. Only in a Chinese market can you see signage for assorted guts posted indiscriminately and without the slightest bit of humour intended. Tripe can also be found in many other Asian grocery stores and sometimes in European (read Italian or Portuguese) butcher shops.

I’ve made menudo using whatever tripe is on hand whether it’s rumen (pictured below), reticulum (which has the larger honeycomb shape), or omasum which is often seen in dim sum dishes or Vietnamese pho. Rumen has the best texture for menudo but as long as you simmer the version of tripe you have long enough so that it is meltingly tender then it’s really no matter in the end.  The most important part of making menudo is ensuring the tripe is clean. Tripe is typically sold in packages pre-cleaned where it will appear imcomprehensibly white. The problem with this is that it’s been cleaned with a portion of bleach that will leave an odour in your soup if you don’t get rid of it by first boiling it in a pot of water with a tablespoon of Kosher salt for 5 or 10 minutes.

Alternatively you can soak it in clean water for an hour. Discard any water used in the bleach removal process. The best test to ensure that you’ve soaked or boiled your tripe long enough so the ungainly chlorine scent won’t taint your final product is simple: Smell it. If there’s even a lingering hint of a swimming pool you need to boil it longer or if soaking, drain the water and re-soak in clean water.

You will also need a calf’s foot which you should also be able to get from the same Asian market. Ask the butcher at the counter to cut the calf’s foot in half for you. And finally, the last major ingredient is a can of hominy which you can get where they sell Latin American products.

If you’re in Kensington Market, stop by Perola Supermarket or Emporium Latino to choose from a variety of canned hominy. You can pick up your chile peppers, cilantro and limes near by too.

Mexican Menudo (Tripe Soup)

1 package of tripe (about 1 1/2 lb) preferably rumen (honeycomb tripe is also fine)

6 cups of water (more, if bleach removal process is required)

1 Tbsp canola oil

2 medium onions, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp. Kosher salt (plus 1 Tbsp, if bleach removal process is required)

1/4 tsp. dried oregano

1 calf’s foot, cut in half

1 15 oz (425 g) can of hominy

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

2 limes, cut into wedges

1 jalapeno, sliced thin (or your choice of hot chile pepper)

6 soft tortilla shells

Wash tripe. If there is a strong bleach odour, boil in water with 1 Tbsp of salt until no odour remains about 5 or 10 minutes. Remove tripe, cut into 1” x 2” pieces and set aside. Discard boiled water.

In a clean pot, heat oil on medium high heat. Add onions and sautee until nearly translucent about 3 minutes. Add garlic, salt and oregano. Return the tripe pieces to the pot. Add the calf’s foot and cover with water. Simmer, covered for about 3 hours or until the tripe and calf’s foot is very tender. Add the undrained can of hominy. Cover and simmer another 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with chopped cilantro, lime wedges, jalapeno slices and warmed tortilla shells. Serves 6.

Options: If you prefer to have your menudo spicy right out of the pot, you can add the jalapeno slices when you add the hominy. You can also squeeze the juice of half a lime directly into the pot at the end and serve with extra lime wedges as a garnish, if you prefer to cut the tripe soup with more acidity. I also enjoy stirring in 1/2 of the chopped cilantro leaves into the pot at the end when you take the soup off the heat. Doing this creates a beautifully fresh burst of green cilantro aroma in the air. Be sure to serve extra cilantro on the side.

August 10th, 2010 by Dawn Becker

When I went to Tokyo I became addicted to onigiri the very first time I tried it. Onigiri is a ball or triangle-shape of Japanese rice wrapped in nori (roasted seaweed sheets) stuffed with fillings like spicy tuna, umeboshi (pickled plum), and other savouries. You could find these tasty gems almost anywhere including convenience stores like 7-Eleven. It was at Ueno Station that I had my first onigiri and it was filled with fresh ikura or salmon roe. Biting through the crunchy seaweed and discovering that the divinely tender rice housed a healthy spoonful of salty bulging salmon eggs was sheer delight and my first delicious food memory of Japan.

In Toronto, we are fortunate to be able to get our hands on onigiri at a few places. My favourite by far are the ones you can find at Sanko, the Japanese food and gift shop located at Claremont and Queen Street West. Pictured above is a small sample of the variety that are available. My favourite isn’t shown – the organic eggplant – because that version never makes it all the way home. More than likely I’ll be trying to drive and shift gears while I undo the cello wrapper with my teeth all without breaking the nori sheet. As soon as the cello is off, I have to eat the onigiri right away while the seaweed is still crunchy.

Here is a close up view of the instructions for removing the cello. Done this way, the nori sheet stays intact, folding around the rice so your hands don’t get messy. Essentially, Step 1 is to peel back the tab at the top and pull it completely around the onigiri and off. Step 2, while holding the onigiri with your left hand pull the right side of the cello off. And finally, Step 3, remove the remaining cello wrapper completely and then take a bite. Think about doing that while driving with one hand and using your teeth. It’s doable.

You can also find the Korean version of onigiri, called gimbap or kimbap, at P.A.T. Central in the Bloor Street Koreatown. Next to Sanko, these onigiri are a pretty good runner up. Julian is fond of the kimchi beef and Cole likes the spicy chicken. Korean gimbap is usually made with laver which are roasted seaweed sheets that have been seasoned.

If you’re at P.A.T. Central and they’re sold out of gimbap, you might want to pick up what you need to make your own at home. All you need is some short grain Japanese rice (or even easier, buy some pre-cooked takeaway rice from a nearby restaurant), a plastic holder that you can use to pat the rice into a triangle shape available in the kitchen utensils aisle, pre-packaged seaweed in cello sheets, shown below, and whatever filling you like. I would then probably make a second stop at the St. Lawrence Market to pick up a jar of salmon roe or sushi-grade fish for the filling.

Manpuku and their new restaurant, Harapeko, located at 160 Baldwin Street, both have onigiri on the menu. The version at Manpuku is usually served while the rice is still warm and they only seem to offer what tastes like a mild tuna salad. Still it hits the spot and the rice is always perfectly tender. There were a couple more choices at Harapeko, such as mentaiko or salted cod roe shown below, but primarily Harapeko is all about the Japanese sandwich pocket so their onigiri suffers a little in quality.

Tokyo Kitchen also has onigiri on it’s menu but they make a version that only uses a thin strip of nori wrapped around the rice as an accent. To me, I need the crunch of the full sheet of fresh nori so I’d skip that and choose one of the other mouth-watering choices on the menu if I was there.

At T&T Supermarket, they offer a two-pack of onigiri for a steal at $2.99 per pack pictured above. I am usually a big fan of T&T but here you really get what you pay for. The T&T onigiri is one item YOU CAN AND SHOULD SKIP. I took one bite of the spicy salmon onigiri and immediately spit it out. The spicy salmon mixture was sour but worst of all the rice was hard. It definitely seems to be an attempt to use up old salmon and stale rice and it doesn’t work.

If you’ve had the misfortune of trying onigiri at T&T Supermarket I hope you will give onigiri another try at a different place. They can be amazing and if people start eating them regularly and asking for interesting fillings, we are sure to see more and better options offered elsewhere in Toronto.

August 1st, 2010 by Dawn Becker

Sure you’ll hear some complaining about the heat and humidity we’ve been experiencing in the Tdot. We’re Canadians and we love to kvetch† about the weather. No matter which province you live in we are fortunate enough to get a sampling of all four seasons. Admittedly, each season doesn’t get its fair share of playtime across Canada. Here in Toronto, we’re definitely not used to such a long stretch of heat but I guarantee that we’ll be ankle deep in snow around the corner and complaining about that too.

For me, I love Canada for all of its seasons and specifically Ontario, which I think has the most beautiful fall — this coming from a born and raised Vancouverite. Cool, crisp Ontario air brings with it the changing colours of leaves that run the gamut of what you visualize when you hear the word “autumn”. Bright orange, earthy browns, shocking reds and deep purples paint a magnificent landscape in what feels too short for that time of year. Maybe those months are short because the fall is conference season when I’m staring at my computer most days working on the majority of events in my annual roster. Nonetheless, the fall is still a prize. Everything is at its peak and then it all begins to die. Everything outdoors must be picked or left to perish for the cycle will have no choice but to begin again. It sounds morbid but that cycle of life is why I love the fall. You can smell death gnawing in the air and I love that. Sure the plants may not but the birth of things new happens all over again in spring so don’t get depressed.Getting back on track, this heat has had a delicious side benefit — luscious, fat, heavenly vegetables and lots of them. Above is a shot of the restrained bounty I impulsively picked up at the Nathan Phillips Square Farmers’ Market this week. On Wednesdays until October 13, 2010, you’ll find tables set up there from 10AM to 2PM, easily accessible to city dwellers and workers in the core. Until August 25, you can even shop accompanied by on-stage entertainment over the lunch hour from noon till 2PM.

I couldn’t resist the vendors’ stalls all of whom wisely presented their wares in irresistible and seductive ways. The scent of bursting ripe plums, dripping chunks of cut tomatoes, corn leaping out of husks, the smell of fresh herbs (though it did lack a bit in selection), sharp headiness of hard neck garlic bulbs, and juiciest sweet peaches practically splitting out of eagerness to be eaten on the spot.

Please, sample this delectable morsel. How can one say no? I had to partake in this and I justified to myself that I was supporting sustainable local farming despite the fact that I would be mostly eating solo a pint of strawberries, a pint of sugar plums — Did I ever mention that I don’t eat fruit? — a significantly larger than ogre-sized handful of beans probably close to a pint as well, four healthy tomatoes, a pint of baby zucchinis, one onion and a head of baby cabbage. To be honest, I regret buying such a teensy cabbage. I could have made a quick batch of homemade sauerkraut to eat with sausages I have frozen here but the mini cabbage wouldn’t make much more than a serving and a half. Regrettable really.I talked about the Farmers’ Market at Evergreen Brickworks in my last post. This is just another one of many weekly outlets that provide fresh, from the farm to your table produce. Edible Toronto, a quarterly magazine that has a focus on promoting local food options provides an online list of Farmers’ Markets available in Ontario — a great resource if you’re looking for an at-a-glance schedule of local markets.

Full disclosure: I met the Publisher and Editor of Edible Toronto by chance when dining one night at Guu Izakaya. My friends and I happened to be seated at a communal table right beside Gail Gordon Oliver and her sister. I was, let’s say, highly “exuberant” that night and I failed to stop myself from sharing all of my thoughts about the menu choices with our neighbours. They took in my zealous food chatter in stride. Upon reflection, as an overactive thinker is wont to do, I know my comments were superfluous. Gail was a real charm for receiving me with my earnest intentions. You need only think of any Katherine Heigl movie for a vision of my over-the-top-ness. At the end of their meal, we did exchange cards and since then I have pleasantly seen her at a conference, while I hid my cringing memories. From the brief encounters, Gail was friendly and seemed quite down to earth. That being said, I share this Farmers’ Market list not because of that but simply because it’s a great list that I refer to. Bookmark it. You will need it one day.

†NOTE: I don’t know anyone who speaks Yiddish but I have always liked the word “kvetch” for its onomatopoeic quality. It’s what I hear when people complain making tiresome, polluting, infiltrating noise. Sounds like“kvetch-ing” to me. I pulled from another language. In turn, I will take no offence if you do that to my mother tongue. Go ahead and call that ludicrous random white guy insisting loudly on getting “cold tea” (a.k.a. beer innocently served in a tea kettle after hours but only available at certain Chiinese restaurants) a gwai lo. I’m good with that. Just say it properly, muttering under your breath, with a slight shake of your head like the elder, wiser Chinese would do. Again I digress, as I do so often…

February 3rd, 2010 by Dawn Becker

I just got back from St. Jamestown Steak & Chops on Parliament Street north of Carlton Avenue. I went in for a free-range chicken and ended up with two gigantic brown bags full of goodies. Surprised? Surely not. This place is a haven of tasty with their deli counter and eat-in section on one side and butcher shop with gorgeous cuts of meat and daily fish selection flanked by superior looking vegetables in the shop beside. I haven’t eaten from the deli but I know that the products are cooked with the same meat, fish and produce that’s sold in the store. And I really liked how the butcher, Mark came out from the back to introduce himself and chat with me about his products.

I was on my way out the door when I saw some freshly cleaned slabs of local rainbow trout that I could not resist. The clerk, Jean, did not remember exactly where in Ontario they came from, but she could guarantee they came in today. There was no convincing needed as the fish had a perfect sheen with not a hint of any odour. I thought an appetizer of rainbow trout on a bed of mixed salad with sunflower sprouts would be a nice start to dinner. I bought a small piece that cost under $3 and immediately went home to cook it. St. Jamestown Steak & Chops is rare in that you’re getting both quality and value. Rowe Farms in my neighbourhood is great for organic and free range meats but they are no match for these prices.

As soon as the groceries were unpacked, I clicked on the gas and hunted for the right pan. I chose a medium size non-stick Cuisinart GreenGourmet pan – their ad says that these pans use an “exclusive nonstick cooking surface that is free of petroleum; that means no PTFE or PFOA present”. I’ve been meaning to write about these frying pans because it seems to have good wear and tear. Plus, I like that the ceramica surface hasn’t peeled off like an old teflon pan in the two years that I’ve had them.

I seasoned the trout filet with sea salt and olive oil. Down in the pan skin-side first and then flip to cook the other side. That’s it. Turn off the heat and set aside. This was a thin filet so it took barely 2 minutes per side. While the fish was resting, I took some washed salad mix and a handful of nutty sunflower sprouts and placed them on a salad plate. Then a drizzle of spicy extra virgin olive oil on the salad. My current favourite is from Terroni, a traditional southern Italian restaurant chain that sells a number of their own labelled grocery items. And topped it all with a spritz of lemon. Divinely fresh.

For the main course, I bought three fat bone-in antibiotic-free pork chops, again reasonably priced at just under $10 for the three. They looked like they were from happy pigs, ah but I was so excited about cooking them that I forgot to ask. I marinated them for an hour in Maggi liquid seasoning, a staple in Chinese homes and an international favourite used to add depth to sauces, soups and stir fries. It’s a bit of a cheat as it contains MSG but I’m happy to have a time-saver here and there as I like having a break from making all my own marinades from scratch.

Pork chops in my cast iron frying pan below. Looking at it now, they seem crowded but the pan was very hot and I placed the thickest pork chop in first to sear before the remaining chops went in.

And here it is plated with a simple accompaniment of a baked potato and steamed broccoli as the flavour of the marinade is in every bite of the pork chop. In this case, it’s all about the quality of the meat that made this pork chop such a superstar. What a delicious night a little bit of inspiration can make. I am going to make sure that St. Jamestown Steak & Chops is a regular stop, especially when I need a nudge in the kitchen.

Rainbow Trout Filet on Mixed Salad

1 rainbow trout filet

2 portions mixed salad

1 portion sunflower sprouts (as many as you like)

sea salt

extra virgin olive oil

2 lemon wedges

Lightly coat the pan with oil and cook the trout on medium high heat starting with the skin side down for about 2 minutes or until browned. Flip the trout filet and cook til just done, around another 2 minutes. Set pan aside. Prepare the salad on the plate topping with a handful of sunflower sprouts. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over greens, to taste. Season with a sprinkling of sea salt and a squeeze of lemon. Place half of the trout filet on top of each salad plate and squeeze lemon over the fish. Enjoy.

Pan-Fried Maggi Pork Chops

2 bone-in pork chops

3 Tbsp Maggi liquid seasoning

1 tsp oil

Marinate the pork chop in Maggi liquid seasoning for an hour, turning the chops over half way through to marinate both sides. Remove the pork chops from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature before cooking. Heat a cast iron frying pan on high heat. The pan needs to be hot enough to sear the meat. Once the pan is hot, add the oil and the pork chops. Be careful to watch the sizzle from the Maggi liquid seasoning. Pork chops do not need to be cooked to oblivion – about 2 to 3 minutes a side should do it depending on thickness. The trick is to let them rest in the cast iron frying pan for a minute after cooking. The cast iron pan releases heat slowly so it will stay warm and this way the juices remain inside the pork chops. Add your favourite accompaniments such as a baked potato or steamed broccoli.

Note: If you decide to cook more than a couple of pork chops at a time, make sure that the pan is very hot and that the chops have enough space in the pan so that they sear properly instead of being steamed.

January 29th, 2010 by Dawn Becker

This morning the sun shone brightly into my bedroom lighting up the walls with a golden yellow hue. It was a spectacular way to wake up with the warmth of the sun hitting the bed while I lay safely tucked under my fluffy duvet during this latest cold snap in Toronto. The colours were so magnificent that it was almost a pleasure to get out of bed – well, not really but it helped. It actually reminded me of the first battle scene in the film, Red Cliff.

If you haven’t seen Red Cliff yet you should put this one on your list of must-see films. Red Cliff is an epic movie directed by famed Hong Kong action director, John Woo and stars many Asian superstars such as Tony Leung (Lust Caution, Infernal Affairs, Hero, Hard Boiled, and too many other great roles to name), Takeshi Kaneshiro (House of Flying Daggers), Shido Nakamura (Letters from Iwo Jima), and Chen Chang (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) to name a few.

Red Cliff is a period piece that recounts an important battle in Chinese history, the Battle of Chibi (Battle of Red Cliffs), that marked the end of the Han Dynasty. The movie is a true masterpiece of strategy and poetic battle movements shot over the beautiful scenic backdrop of the Red Cliffs. The original movie was so long that they ended up producing it in two parts. Both Red Cliff and Red Cliff II have a running time of well over two hours each so you really get your money’s worth from these movies that don’t let up at all in their pacing. The action sequences are very fresh and exciting and there’s a good dose of humour added to keep it light. It also helps that the actors are talented and easy on the eyes, so the time really flies by.

The characters seem to have been provided with stereotypically inherent Chinese personas such as the profound and thoughtful Chief Strategist Zhuge Liang, played by Kaneshiro, the against-all-odds determination and conviction of Zhou Yu, played by Leung, and the pained angst of the young lord, Sun Quan, who is plagued by unremarkable inaction compared to the warriors in his family history. Sun Quan is played by Chen Chang and is a real role reversal from Dark Cloud, the intense dessert warrior that woos the Zhang Ziyi character, Jen, in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

There is a pivotal scene in Red Cliff II involving delicious glutinous rice balls or tangyuan where the generals share their precious few rice balls with their battle leader, Zhou Yu, signifying their loyalty and belief in him. It’s a moving way to show fealty at the precipice of war, all done through food.

You can make your own glutinous rice balls but the ones you can buy frozen in most Asian supermarket are very tasty without the sticky effort.

I like the Amoy brand, shown above with peanut filling, but they are also available with sesame paste, red-bean paste or without any filling. To cook them, just boil a pot of water, drop the rice balls in and let them boil until they float. They are ready when half of the rice ball rises above the water. If the rice ball is not floating half way above the water the filling may not be completely ready.

Now you too can create an opportunity for your family to demonstrate their allegiance and adoration for you. Just make sure you boil enough of these goodies to make it easy for them share.