May is Asian Heritage Month in Canada – a time when all Canadians celebrate those Eastern cultures that have enriched our country by contributing their traditions, literature, philosophy and cuisine – Japanese, Korean, Thai, South Asian and of course, Chinese to name a few. Vancouver as we now know, is home to the “best Chinese food in the world” as proclaimed by Conde Nast Traveler Magazine this past January.

At Wild Rice, proprietor Andrew Wong and his executive Chef Todd Bright, believe that Asian Heritage Month is an ideal time to honour the past by celebrating the here and now. Chinese food as it is presented at Wild Rice, is the vanguard of an evolution (or perhaps ‘revolution’) in Chinese cuisine. “While we take inspiration from the food of the past, our dishes are not ‘carved in stone’ replicas of what has gone before. We present modern interpretations of classical dishes that feature our local, sustainable and seasonal ingredients,” says Mr. Wong a third generation Chinese-Canadian restaurateur. While paying homage to the past, Wild Rice is very much of the future.

For Asian Heritage Month, starting May 7 (after Dine Out), the restaurant’s menu will be offering a special section of ‘heritage dishes’ inspired by the food that was prepared in the Wong household by his grandmother. You’ll find updated versions of ‘village food’ such as Siu Mai, Vegetable Bun (Choi Bao), Congee and the ever-popular BBQ Pork (cha siu). In this instance the Siu Mai, a dim sum favourite, has been modernized as an open face dumpling of local spot prawns with pork from Sloping Hill Farm. The Vegetable Bao is enlivened with a touch of curry while the ubiquitous staple Congee comes accessorized with smoked tofu and shitake mushrooms (pa gu). Cha Siu, those delectable morsels of barbequed pork, is made in-house from Sloping Hill Farm’s free-range, heritage breed pork.

Individual dishes range in price from $5 to $8 or you can order a Heritage Platter with all four for only $19. This special menu section will be offered May 7 through 31.

While these ‘village dishes’ are the ones specially highlighted for Asian Heritage Month, Wild Rice’s menu features many more tasty temptations drawn from classical Chinese cuisine: Wonton Soup (scallop wontons, roast chicken broth), Seasonal Vegetable Spring Rolls, Chinatown Sweep (aka ‘vegetable chow mein’), Fraser Valley Lamb Potstickers (with truffled pea puree) and the ever-popular Spicy Kung Pao Chicken (twice-cooked peanuts, Maple Hills free-range chicken, broccoli and rice noodles).

We invite you to use Asian Heritage Month as an ‘excuse’ to explore Chinese cuisine’s future at Wild Rice and maybe take a stroll through old Chinatown while you’re at it. Celebrating Canada’s ethnic richness has never been so tasty or so pleasurable.