It’s finally that time of the year again, SUMMER TIME! Which also means that the Richmond night markets are open and ready to fill this girl’s tummy with loads of yummy food! So without further ado, here are a few of my MUST EATS of summer night markets 😛
(Disclaimer: All food reviewed in this post were provided free of charge to me by International summer night market and the vendors through a media event hosted by Chinesebites. All opinions in this post are honest, my own and not influenced by the companies involved to make this happen.)
1. Takoyaki!
If you didn’t know already, takoyaki is a Japanese street snack. There were a few takoyaki stands floating around at the night market and some stands even offered ones that were filled with shrimp!
The ones from Toyota-ya were packed full octopus and the pancake batter that surrounded the octopus tentacles was really light and fluffy. It was topped with the perfect amount of tangy Takoyaki sauce, Japanese mayo, nori and bonito flakes.
2. Fried mantou buns
Mantou are Chinese wheat buns that are traditionally prepared either steamed or fried. They can either be eaten alone or dipped in condensed milk if you want to take them to a whole ‘nother level.
Amazebuns takes these buns to a whole other level beyond that and offers a variety of different flavors including ones that are topped with ice cream, chocolate syrup and matcha powder!
We decided to try the matcha ones because they were recommended by the vendors. The buns were fried perfectly, oh so pillowy soft on the inside, and the bitterness of the matcha powder on top offset the sweetness of the condensed milk drizzle on top.
3. Hurricane potato fries
I swear no night market visit is complete without having one of these! What’s a hurricane potato you ask?
Well it’s a spiralized potato deep fried…think…a hybrid between fries and chips!
There were several stands that sold hurricane potatoes but this was the booth we decided to try. Brother deer decided that we would get the hurricane potato with half BBQ sauce and half tiger sauce. We weren’t really sure what the sauce was exactly but it was a spicy and tangy at the same time.
This booth also offers hurricane zucchinis and hurricane yams for those who are looking for a more “nutritious” version.
4. BBQ Squid
I heard from around that this was the best BBQ grilled squid stand around so I had to give it a try!
Oooo just look at all that deliciousness on the grill…
This squid was amazing! We got them “original” flavor since brother deer can’t handle spicy food. Even though they were original, they were well seasoned so it was as though they were spiced despite the fact that they weren’t! They were also grilled to perfection and weren’t tough or chewy. They definitely did this squid justice.
5. Taiyaki
What are Taiyaki? Well, they are nothing like takoyaki that’s for sure!
They are fish shaped waffles that are traditionally filled with either custard cream or red bean paste.
The ones at this booth offered them filled with chocolate and Nutella. We decided to get one of each. Out of all of them we liked the traditional red bean one the best. I’m not too big on chocolate so brother deer had that one himself…he described it as “diabetes in a fish” so in other words, it was much too sweet so unless you have a major sweet tooth, I advise you to stay with the more traditional flavors.
6. Bubble waffle + bubble tea
Ahhh, the bubble waffle. I feel that this Hong Kong street snack is getting a little neglected with all the new desserts and treats popping up at the night market.
We decided to try a green tea version of these sweet egg cake puffs. To my surprise, the earthy flavor of the matcha powder was really prominent in the bubble waffle. They weren’t too sweet either. If you eat these I recommend eating them right away because if you don’t they end up getting soggy and you lose out on the crispiness of they waffle shell.
