By: Rebecca Feigelsohn

This past weekend, Night It Up! (formerly known as “Toronto Night Market” and “Asian Night Market”) took place at the Markham Civic Centre for its eleventh year. Night It Up!, run by Power Unit Youth Organization, is a three day outdoor food and merchandise market styled in true Asian form, known for its offerings of authentic Asian street food, multicultural performances, and other various attractions. The event was free, with a pay-as-you-eat set up, and partial proceeds being donated to Make-A-Wish Canada.

The cuisine at Night It Up! certainly lived up to it’s authenticity, offering affordable small-plate items (most under $7), with exotic smells and unique flavours, many of which I had never seen even in the heart of China Town in Toronto. I arrived to the night market at 6 pm on Sunday; despite the rain and with only 2 hours left of the event, it was still going strong. As the market was preparing to close down, many of the 100 food vendors began offering half-price deals, which allowed me to sample even more of the delectable Asian fare. Though I was tempted to try the acclaimed stinky tofu referred to as the “unofficial national snack of Taiwan,” the aroma, despite attempts to relate the stench to stinky cheese, dissuaded me. However, I did sample my fair share of street food, favourites including the chicken satay taco from Tacocat, Taiwanese chicken steak from Dat Chick Craze – that slightly resembled popcorn chicken from KFC but hardly tasted as such- and the lobster and shrimp poutine from Asian Poutine.

To learn more about Night It Up! visit nightitup.com

Rebecca Feigelsohn is a Toronto based editorial intern for Good Food Revolution. She recently completed her BA in English at McGill University and loves all things sweet. Follow her as she profiles Toronto pastry chefs @GoodFoodRevInt