If you’re planning to hit up Richmond’s night market, go with an empty stomach and prepare for some of the world’s best Asian food, says The New York Times.
The article, titled “The Best Asian Food in North America? Try British Columbia” is stirring up enthusiasm about visiting a hidden food treasure that some are calling a bucket list item.
Writer Taras Grescoe highlighted the region’s world-class Asian food in Monday’s Times and the major publication’s accolades of Metro Vancouver’s Asian food come as no surprise to some.
Grescoe took readers on a hearty journey through the Richmond Night Market, spending the first half of the piece exploring what he called a “one-stop paradise for lovers of Asian food.”
The market features dozens of food stalls and attracts foodies from across the Lower Mainland.
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“The most memorable eating I did in Richmond, as it turned out, was not in such bustling high-end rooms, but in modest establishments on the scale of HK B.B.Q. Master,” Grescoe wrote.
The article quoted food blogger Fernando Medrano, who credited the market for being home to a perfect blend of cooking techniques and some of the world’s best ingredients.
“People often say the Chinese food you get here is superior to what you get in China, where everyone is concerned about pollution,” Medrano said in the Times article.
“A lot of Richmond is still protected farmland, which means there’s great bok choy, gai lan, all the Chinese greens. And we’re right on the Pacific, so we have access to some of the freshest seafood in the world.”
Grescoe spent his childhood living in Vancouver; his most prominent memories of Richmond were the international airport at Sea Island and the city’s nickname — “Ditchmond.”
“Since I left British Columbia 20 years ago, the world — Asia, in particular — has found its way to Richmond: over 74 per cent of the city’s 200,000 residents are of Asian background, according to the 2016 census,” Grescoe writes.
While Grescoe focuses on Chinese cuisine, the write up of his weekend spent in Richmond early last summer, is cooking up more excitement about Metro Vancouver’s overall Asian food scene.