Pig Out
For two nights in July, a parking lot in Markham becomes Asian foodie nirvana By Chris Nuttall-Smith
Image credit: Margaret Mulligan
Good eating goes outside in the summer, especially at the annual Toronto Night Market. The 40 or so food hawkers prepare Chinese (though there’s a bit of Korean, Malaysian, Japanese and Thai, too) that’s extraordinarily cheap (everything is $2 to $3) and utterly authentic. What you won’t find here are egg rolls with packets of plum sauce, or separate menus for the gwai lo.
First held in 2002, the event is a fundraiser organized by a philanthropic youth organization called the Power Unit. The market draws 60,000 food lovers, as well as vendors from around the city. Some come from out-of-the-way restaurants (the Wei’s Smelly Tofu booth, which is absolutely mobbed from open to close, is one—follow your nose to the reek of deep-fried fermented soy curd) while others are regulars at special events across the region. And more than a couple of the booths—like the one last year that was selling iced chrysanthemum tea from a Coleman cooler (it’s made by boiling fresh flowers with water and rock sugar)— appear only here, run by entrepreneurial university kids in possession of their grandmothers’ recipes.
The offerings range from grilled whole squid and lamb skewers to candied cherry tomatoes and a hybrid doughnut-waffle concoction from Taiwan that’s smeared with peanut butter and sugar. But the best treat is probably the hot, sublime and hard-to-find takoyaki: divine little dumplings made with chopped octopus, ginger, shrimp flakes and crunchy tempura scraps. Devotees will contentedly queue an hour or more for these savoury little balls. They’re finicky to make: prepared in cast iron moulds by a crew of headband-wearing cooks who turn them with chopsticks until they’re golden brown. The takoyaki get a squirt each of green seaweed sauce and mayonnaise, and a sprinkle of dried fish shavings. Then they’re handed over, steaming, while 100 sets of jealous eyes watch as you pop them, piece by delicious piece, into your mouth. July 11 and 12. Metro Square, 3636 Steeles Ave. E., www.torontonightmarket.com
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