Street Eats from 2014 Night It Up!

Over 100,000 attendees flocked to Markham Civic Centre to experience the 13^th annual Night It Up! hosted by Power Unit Youth Organization (PUYO). This 3-day Asian Street food festival, presented by TD Bank Group, is based on street food markets which are popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Markets are popular in the evenings because temperatures are cooler when the sun has gone down.

View of the first quarter of the line for takoyaki

Experienced attendees arrived early to avoid lineups (ranging from 10 minutes to over 1 hour at some of the food stalls). At peak period, the crowd rubbed shoulder to shoulder as they moved from one line up to another. They then patiently waited for their food while being temporarily blinded by the smoke emanating from the skewer charcoal grills and picking up the unmistakable aroma of BBQ smoke or smelly tofu.

Event MCsChristy Loh & Pody Lui, A1 Chinese Radio

In addition to food, the festival featured live performances, sports tournaments, merchandise booths, games booths, art projects, and outdoor movies made possible by the collaboration with Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival.

Rosana Zheng, President, Power Unit Youth Organization, Michael Prosserman, UNITY Charity, Shirley Ng, Project Chairperson, Night It Up!

Each year Night It Up! selects a charitable beneficiary. Since 2002, it has raised over $95,000 for 12 GTA not-for-profit organizations. UNITY Charity was selected as this year’s recipient. UNITY Charity engages and empowers youth 10-18 years of age to become role models and leaders in their communities. Their programming positively impacts over 30,000 young individuals annually, resulting in productive citizens, safer schools, and healthier communities. “I am very pleased to have Night It Up! Night Market celebrate its 13th year at Markham Civic Centre,” said Rosana Zeng, President, PUYO. UNITY Charity was selected as this year’s recipient as their mission was “very closely aligned to the PUYO’s vision of youth empowerment”.

Dignitaries and event sponsors

Political dignitaries from all levels of government shared greetings at the opening ceremony while sponsors were acknowledged for their contribution to the festival.

Popular items at this year’s festival included squid skewers; lamb skewers; takoyaki (dumplings made of octopus, tempura bits, pickled ginger, and green onion); smelly tofu (fermented tofu with a very distinct odour); fruit juices served in their exocarp (thick rind); shaved ice desserts topped with your choice of toppings including red beans, fruity flavours, and jellies; and bubble tea. Also prevalent throughout the festival was liquid nitrogen ice cream which I foresee as this summer’s food trend. Fresh cream is blended with sugar and your selected flavour pairing which is and then instantaneously frozen with liquid nitrogen. Here are the street eats sold by the vendors at this year’s festival:

: Oyster Omelet

: Akasaka Japanese Cuisine-Takoyaki ($6)

: Akasaka Japanese Cuisine-Chocolate or Red Bean Taiyaki ($3, 2 for $5)

: Lao Beijing Yogurt

: Seafood Paradise-Teppanyaki Hokkaido Cuttlefish ($5), Japanese style grilled scallop ($6), Tappanyaki Shrimp Skewer (2 for $5), Grilled Whelk in Shell (5 for $5), Grilled golden clams with house sauce (2 for $5)

: Tornado Fries-Tornado potato, Fish balls, Takoyaki

: Juicy Melon-Watermelon Juice ($4)

: 167 Lamb Kabob-Lamb skewers ($2 each, 3 for $5)

: Ten Ren’s Tea-Fresh lime green tea ($4)

: Fresh Juice-Pineapple juice ($5), Mango slush ($6), Watermelon juice ($4)

: Mama Bear-Deep Fried Smelly Tofu ($7)

: Mama Bear-Popcorn Chicken ($3)

: Asian Poutine-Butter Chicken with cilantro lime & sour cream ($7)

: Asian Poutine-Korean Pulled Pork with BBQ sauce, Kimchi slaw & spicy mayo ($7)

: Seafood Grill-Lobster ($15), Oysters (3 for $10)

: Seafood Grill-Scallops (5 for $10)

: Seafood Grill-Lobster ($15)

: Seafood Grill

: Tempura Tempura-Shrimp Tempura

: Tempura Tempura-Bulgogi Roll

: Due West-Lamb Skewers ($3 each, 4 for $10)

: Ice Volcano-Ice Cream-Liquid nitrogen ice cream ($5, 2 for $8)

: Xiao Er Huo (Tiny Two)-Mini watermelon Juice ($6)

: Beaver Tails-Maple Flavoured Spread ($6.25)

: Diana’s Seafood-Fanny Bay Oysters (7 for $10)

: Barcode Café-Lamb Skewers (3 for $5)

: Barcode Café-Lamb Skewers (3 for $5)

: Barcode Café-Fruit candy-Strawberry or Hawthorn skewers (1 for $4; 2 for $6)

: Waffle Heads-Waffle, cornflakes, ice cream, toppings ($5)

: Roy’s Barbecue-Crispy chicken cartilage ($5)

: Roy’s Barbecue-Jelly pancake ($5)

: BBQ Lamb Skewers-Lamb Skewers ($2 each)

: BBQ Lamb Skewers-Lamb Skewers ($2 each)

: Imparfait-What’s inside a cup

: Imparfait-Tiramisu: biscotti, cream puff, cocoa biscuit, espresso jelly, tiramisu gelato, sponge cake, milk gelato ($8)

: Crispy Beef Roll-Crispy Beef Roll ($5)

: Crispy Beef Roll-Crispy Beef Roll ($5)

: Crispy Beef Roll-Shaved Ice ($5)

: Mamak Satay Malaysian Grill-satay chicken skewer, satay beef skewer, satay pork skewer (5 for $10)

: Mamak Satay Malaysian Grill-satay chicken skewer, satay beef skewer, satay pork skewer (5 for $10)

: GrubTO-Milk tea freezie ($2), Blueberry aloe freezie ($2), Pinapple Baoss-pineapple slider bun, gochujang pork belly, grilled pineapple, arugula ($5)

: Freshing Up-Juices and milk tea

: Freshing Up-Beef sausage skewer ($3), Chicken skewer

: Frosty Frozen Fruits-Coconut water ($6), Watermelon juice ($3 cup, $6), Pineapple juice ($8)

: Ice Cloud-Ice Cloud-milk base ice+2 toppings ($7)

: Grilled Mini Eggs-Grilled Quail Eggs ($2)

: XinJiang BBQ-Squid skewers

: BNT Seafood-Squid skewer ($8, 2 for $15)

: BNT Seafood-Squid skewer ($8, 2 for $15)

: Northwest Chinese Snack-Szechuan Cold Noodles

: Northwest Chinese Snack-Szechuan Cold Noodles

: Cha Time-Grass Jelly Roasted Milk Tea ($5)

: Cha Me Cha-Snow Ice Cup

: Shinjang BBQ-Lamb skewers ($2), Beef skewers ($2)

: Shinjang BBQ-Lamb skewers ($2)

: Shinjang BBQ-Squid skewers ($8)

: Watermelon Kings-Watermelon cooler ($5), Watermelon ice slush ($4), Mango ice slush ($4)

: Zhong’s BBQ Squid-Squid skewer

: Tea Shop 168-Bubble Tea, Grass Jelly Milk Tea, Green Tea

: Me.n.u-Gangnam Style-Korean beef bulgogi

: Two Good Dogs-The Tangy Thai-cabbage, red pepper, red onion, carrot, sriracha

: Two Good Dogs-The Hachiko-wasabi mayo, seaweed, bonito flakes,

: Two Good Dogs-The Hachiko, The Tangy Thai

: Two Good Dogs-Tea Leaf Eggs

: ROFL Waffle-Japanese Chicken Waffle ($4)

: ROFL Waffle-Waffle with Ice Cream ($4)

: Kashmiri BBQ-Chicken Skewer ($5)

: Kashmiri BBQ-Lamb skewer ($5)

: Kashmiri BBQ-Squid

: Fantastic Noodle-So Sesame ($5)

: Wei’s Taiwanese Food Inc-Noodle Bun

: Guo’s Food-Watermelon juice ($6)

: One Night Sausage Stand-Veal Bratwurst ($6, 2 for $10)

: Pineapple Prince-Watermelon slush, Pineapple slush, Strawberry slush,

: Buddha Buddie-Gourmet Spring Rolls (2 for $3, 3 for $5)

: Buddha Buddie-Deep Fried Ice cream Sandwiches (2 for $3, 3 for $5)

: Xeo! Xeo! Xeo!-Meateor Vietnamese Crepe-Ground beef and pork, bean sprouts, jicama, onions, mung beans. Topped off with carrots, fried onions, specialty sauce ($5)

: Pure Barbecue-Pork skewers ($5), Lamb skewers (3 for $5)

: Pure Barbecue-Lamb skewers (3 for $5)

: Chun Wing Trading Ltd-Crispy Shrimp Roll

: Chun Wing Trading Ltd-Sakura Yaki

: Chun Wing Trading Ltd-Onigiri

: Chun Wing Trading Ltd-Teriyaki Squid

: Chun Wing Trading Ltd-Squid skewer

: Wei’s Taiwanese Food Inc-Wei’s Smelly Tofu

: Uh Oh Hotdogs-Terimayo-edamame|Thai chili|Sriracha aioli|Teriyaki sauce|Seaweed|Sesame Seeds, Oroshi-Daikon Radish|Citrus Ponzu|Green onions|Thai Chili cheese, Kimuchi-Homemade kimchi|Mozarella|Basil aioli|Green onions|Sesame, Nirumiso-Minced pork|green onion|sweet miso|sake|Tonkatsu sauce|Mozarella ($5)

: Stuffed Wings-Wonton Bomb-dumpling filling & sesame vinegar sauce, Cheesy Mac-mac & cheese with spicy ketchup, Yaya Wing-jambalaya filling with sriracha aioli & creole seasoning (2 for $5)