Saturday, September 1, 2018

626 Night Market Asian Food Trends Report





Fro-yo girl here. 626 Night Market continues to be the place to see and taste Asian street food trends. This year they added a Northern California version, but I think the Arcadia market is still the biggest and best. I haven’t been to the OC or Northern CA night markets.

The layout was similar to last year. Start at the information booth to study the map if you’re looking for specific vendors or foods. The vendors are also listed on the 626 Night Market website.

This year I noticed a few trends:

  • More Korean foods, including Korean pizza, Korean fries, Korean corn dogs, and more. Apparently South Koreans call corn dogs hot dogs and one of their hottest street foods is hot dogs (but they’re actually corn dogs). Some are encrusted in French fries and others are sprinkled with sugar and drizzled with ketchup and mustard. Ghostix had both kinds. The Cheeze on Stix featured a huge mozzarella cheese stick dipped in batter with tempura flakes, sugar, mustard, and ketchup ($10): The batter was lighter and crunchier than the typical cheese on a stick. The sugar added a little sweetness. It was interesting but didn’t have Korean flavors. I like Hot Dog on a Stick’s cheese on a stick better. 
  • More puffle cones. Puffle cone vendors have been at 626 Night Market for years, but there were more of them than ever. 
  • More drink vendors, especially milk tea vendors. Those baby bottles were everywhere. 
  • Elote, corn in a cup and Cheetos. Elote has been at 626 for years, but colorful versions were all over this year, including those coated in Cheetos. 
  • Foot long French fries - these are a new street food trend in Japan. I'm not sure where to get them other than the 626 Night Market.
I didn’t see froyo, but there was an ice cream truck with soft serve. I also got a free cup of Alove Yogurt and free Puchao candy.

Free parking. Admission is $5.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

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