By locadmin
Are you ready to learn more about the world’s most favourite frozen icy treat? Here are some of the most lickable, unique inventions besides the delectable Italian gelato.
#1 I Tim Pad (Thailand)
At a glance, it looks like a street vendor selling teppanyaki because of the flat grill. Look closer and you will see a liquid base consisting of milk, sugar and cream, stir-fried on the grill that has a temperature of -20°C! Using two steel spatulas, the batter is “fried” until it solidifies. Then rolled and placed vertically in cups. Yummylicious flavours include chocolate, vanilla and coconut. Some even have optional toppings like hot fudge, sprinkles and toasted coconut.
#2 Snow Cream (Taiwan)
Giant cubes of flavoured snow blocks that are shaved into fluffy strips of thin ice. It has the best of both icy worlds with the creaminess of ice cream and featheriness of ice. You can choose a range of toppings such as boba, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate and fresh fruit.
#3 Mochi Ice Cream (Japan)
This Japanese sweet treat levels up using flavoured ice cream as its filling. Imagine dollops of cool creamy goodness wrapped in a tastefully sweet and sticky rice dough layer. Bite-sized for easy snacking, it comes in traditional flavours such as green tea and red bean, to modern flavours like strawberry, vanilla, black sesame and even durian!
#4 Dondurma (Turkey)
No matter how you stretch and pull, this extremely pliable ice cream will retain whatever shape you mould it into. Thanks to the salep (flour made from orchids) and aromatic mastic (found in gum/resin) that is mixed with milk and sugar, the icy “dough” becomes chewy after it is kneaded, churned and pulled. Street vendors love to put on a show of how malleable it is when serving it to customers on ice cream cones.
#5 Kulfi (India)
Similarly prepared like gelato, yet extremely laborious as it can take up to one day just to make a batch. The mixture of mainly sweetened condensed milk, almonds, cardamoms and honey is slowly cooked to create an intensely dense and creamy ice cream. Rosewater is another common flavour and often garnished with pistachios for that mixed dimensional texture. Traditionally served plated but more recently it’s served on a wooden stick, like an ice pop.
#6 Jipangyi (South Korea)
The unique saxophone-shaped J-cone (made from corn) is definitely a conversation starter. Ice cream is filled on both ends so that you get to enjoy more ice cream blissfulness. Apart from being Instagram-worthy, the cone serves another purpose – it mostly prevents dripping which equals to less mess.
#7 Spaghettieis (Germany)
A sinfully sweet version of the savoury Spaghetti Bolognese, which was created by an Italian in Germany during the sixties. Delicious French vanilla ice cream is put through a pasta maker to look like spaghetti. Then glossy drizzles of strawberry sauce are topped onto the “pasta” to look like tomato sauce and shavings of white chocolate as pseudo-parmesan. Yummy!
#8 Paletas (Mexico)
Unlike regular ice-lollies made from milk, sugar and some with artificial food dyes, Paletas are made from coconut milk, freshly pureed fruits, nuts, herbs, and spices. A very healthy icy treat bursting with fresh fruit with every delectable bite. You can find exotic flavours like pineapple-jalapeno, horchata, tamarind to common flavours like grape and orange.
#9 Akutaq (Alaska)
How do you sell ice cream to an Eskimo? Give him a non-frosty Akutaq (pronounced as ak-gu-ter)! Traditionally made from animal fat like seal, moose, caribou and even fish, it has a unique flavour which requires a stronger stomach. Modern versions are mostly made with regular cream, vegetable shortening and sometimes with milk and sugar. Fruits like berries are also added to give it an acceptable flavour profile.
#10 Faloodeh (Iran)
A refreshing summer Persian treat made from thin vermicelli, mixed with sugar syrup and rose water then rapidly cooled in a semi frozen state. It looks like a savoury noodle dish with a texture similar to sorbet. Faloodeh is normally served with a spritz of lime juice and ground pistachio.
#11 Fried Ice Cream (China)
This hot and cold delicacy is pretty straightforward yet heavenly on your taste bud. Balls of scooped ice cream are wrapped with bread, dipped in batter and deep fried till golden perfection. Some coat the ice cream with tempura batter, roll it in breadcrumbs then deep fried. Whatever the method, it’s in demand all year around.
#12 Ice Cream Potong (Malaysia)
Quite the household staple, this rectangular shaped ice cream stirs up fond childhood memories for every Malaysian who grew up eating it. The base mixture normally consists of condensed milk, sugar and coconut milk. Local flavours and textures are added such as red bean, durian, gula melaka or pandan; followed by freezing the ice cream in large blocks. The ice cream blocks are then cut (the Malay term is “potong”), skewered with sticks and wrapped in plastic. Although there are available in commercial retail, locals still prefer to buy it from traditional street vendors.