Richmond Summer Night Market

It was an unseasonably warm spring day in Vancouver, and a pesky mosquito had snuck into my cousin Emily's house and had begun to circle me, moving in for the kill (and I'm not just being overly dramatic here - I have 'skeeter syndrome' so this was a serious situation). Emily came to my rescue with what looked like a tennis racket except that it shot electrical sparks and electrocuted my tiny assailant upon contact!

"Where the heck do you buy something like that?!" I exclaimed. "Oh, the Asian night market", she replied laughingly. Obsessed with getting my own mosquito taser, I planned to visit the night market before I left Vancouver. But of course I didn't make it there that year, and pretty much forgot about it during subsequent visits to Vancouver. Recently, one of my friends mentioned that the major draw of the night market was the FOOD (oink, did someone just say the magic word?!). So finally, on our most recent trip to Vancouver, this little piggy went to market (the Asian night market, that is)!

There are actually two Asian night markets in the Vancouver area, the Vancouver Chinatown Night Market (100 vendors) and the Richmond Summer Night Market (300 hundred vendors). Both are modeled after open air night markets found throughout Asia. In the last few years, the Richmond Summer Night Market has become one of the biggest attractions in Canada, featuring an 'international' food fair and live entertainment, attracting thousands of visitors every weekend from mid-May till the beginning of October. (note: prior to 2008, the night market was run by a different event promoter who lost his lease to the property. Since then he's filed a lawsuit against the current promoter for "hijacking" the event that he founded. Source: Asian Pacific Post)

Hubby Kris and I arrived at the night market around 11pm on a Saturday night. We headed straight for the action (food stalls), bypassing the lonely vendors hawking Asian knicknacks, cell phone accessories, and cheap clothing.

Granny panties, anyone?

How 'bout a giant tiger scroll?


OK, on to the food. Everything's cheap ($1- $5). CASH ONLY!

Grilled meat on a stick:


Curried fish balls:


Yum!

Fresh coconut drinks:

Takoyaki (doughballs filled with octopus, topped with Japanese condiments):


Dim sum:


Waffles were a popular item, at least 1/2 dozen stalls were offering some kind of waffle variation.

Egg balls (tiny sweet waffle balls, Kris loves these):

Fish shaped chocolate and red-bean waffles (aka taiyaki):


Taiwanese wheel cakes/sugar coated strawberries on a stick:


Korean waffles:


Dragon's beard candy:


Bubble Tea:


"Love" Crepes:


Gourmet desserts:


Southeast Asian desserts (or what I call 'everything but the kitchen sink' desserts):


Deep fried marshmallow pockets:



And no, I never did find the mosquito taser :(
(I got distracted by the food, can you blame me?)


Richmond Summer Night Market
http://www.summernightmarket.com
12631 Vulcan Way (behind Home Depot on Sweden Way)
Richmond, BC, Canada
Open May 15 - Oct 4, 2009
Every Fri and Sat 7pm - 12am, Sun till 11pm
Long Weekends Sun 7pm - 12am, Mon till 11pm

Richmond Summer Night Market