Asian night markets offer tastes of the old and new

Beneath the giant red sign illuminating the Asian Garden Mall in Southern California, slabs of jumbo white squid are seared on a smoky grill. Nearby, children pluck fried potato slices off a stick and couples dance to Vietnamese ballads.

It reminds Audrey Dinh of the stories of night markets her Vietnamese grandmother used to tell, and of those the 28-year-old encounters on business trips throughout Asia. But this one is much closer to home, in the city of Westminster in Orange County, where vendors sell everything from giant prawns and coconut waffles to home curtains and flashing toy pinwheels.

"This is what I see in Asia, " Dinh says as she waited for an order of banh tom khot, a rice-flour cake filled with shrimp. "It's very close to Asia. "