Page 7 - atoday
P. 7
U.S. NEWS A7
Thursday 14 January 2016
In US, Asian night markets bring taste of the old and new
Customers sit and eat at the Asian Garden Mall night market in Westminster, Calif. Since about ket has evolved from ca- Some U.S. markets are a
2010, night markets have opened in New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Ange- tering mostly to club-goers distant echo of the cheap,
les and other U.S. cities. Several were started by young Asian Americans who wanted to recreate looking for a late-night eat raucous places that in-
the frenetic, fast-paced spectacle of an Asian night market in their families’ adopted hometowns. to offering real shopping spired them. Celebrity chef
opportunities for the city’s and food adventurist An-
(AP Photo/Christine Armario) large, young and relatively thony Bourdain is creating
affluent middle class. a huge New York City mar-
C. ARMARIO During the past five years, the ones in Taiwan any- In the U.S., the emergence ket he has said will be open
Associated Press more,” said Jonny Hwang, of night markets — some of late and have the feel of
WESTMINSTER, Calif. (AP) similar night markets have 35, founder of the 626 Night which attract tens of thou- an Asian night market, but
— Beneath the giant red Market in the San Gabriel sands of people — is seen also have prepared food
sign illuminating the Asian popped up in major cit- Valley, about 10 miles east by organizers as a reflec- stalls by celebrated chefs
Garden Mall in Southern of Los Angeles. “We want tion of how Asian-Ameri- like April Bloomfield. Oth-
California, slabs of jumbo, ies throughout the United our own identity.” can communities have as- ers tilt higher end, charging
white squid are seared on Night markets date back to similated to local culture $50 or more to enter and
a smoky grill. Nearby, chil- States, a byproduct of at least the Tang dynasty in while also reinterpreting sample food and drinks
dren pluck fried potato slic- China around the year 600. their own. from top local chefs.
es off a stick and couples both the nation’s expand- By the Song dynasty in the Hwang recalled how when Danielle Chang, author of
dance to Vietnamese bal- 12th century, they had de- he was a Taiwanese-Amer- the cookbook “Lucky Rice”
lads. ing Asian-American popu- veloped into sophisticated, ican teenager growing up — a collection of night
It reminds Audrey Dinh of well-organized centers sell- in suburban Los Angeles, his market recipes — was born
the stories of night markets lation — the country’s fast- ing grilled meats, stuffed and other families strived to in Taipei and funneled a
her Vietnamese grand- buns and dried fruit. fit in. passion for Asian food into
mother used to tell her as est growing racial minority, “The Chinese had a flour- “While we enjoyed our her own night market-like
a child, and of those the ishing commercial food foods, we didn’t really events, including a cock-
28-year-old encounters numbering some 19.4 mil- scene long before Europe,” embrace it,” said Hwang, tail-themed market party in
on business trips throughout said Fuchsia Dunlop, an whose 626 Night Market Las Vegas.
Asia. But this one is much English writer and specialist features classic Taiwanese “I think that the interest in
closer to home, in the city in Chinese cuisine. favorites and fusion dishes Asian food ... stems from
of Westminster in Orange Night markets have contin- like pho tacos and ramen the growing awareness
County, where vendors ued to proliferate through- burgers. “I didn’t force my of Asia through the lens of
sell everything from giant out Asia, with one study friends to check out stinky food,” she said. “Through
prawns and coconut waf- finding 95 operating on any tofu.” These days, he said, travel. Through a new gen-
fles to home curtains and given week in the city of “Asians are starting to em- eration of chefs getting
flashing toy pinwheels. Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. brace the fact that ‘Hey, classical French training
“This is what I see in Asia,” In cities like Bangkok, street we have really delicious and then returning to their
Dinh said as she waited for food remains the heart and food. And other people are heritage.”
an order of banh tom khot, soul of local cuisine, sold interested in that food.’”
a rice flour cake filled with lion — and a growing culi- day and night from carts
shrimp. “It’s very close to and makeshift stands. The
Asia.” nary curiosity for authentic classic Bangkok night mar-
East Asian flavors.
Since about 2010, night
markets have opened in
Chicago, Cleveland, the
Los Angeles metro area,
New York City, Philadel-
phia and Pittsburgh. Sev-
eral were started by young
Asian-Americans who
wanted to recreate the fre-
netic, fast-paced specta-
cle of an Asian night market
in their families’ adopted
hometowns. Not all of have
remained exclusively Tai-
wanese or Vietnamese: In-
stead, many have evolved
into a hodge-podge of cul-
tures and foods reflecting
their mixed communities.
“It’s been a key decision
for us not to try and be like
