''Ais kacang'' (), literally meaning "bean ice", also commonly known as ABC (acronym for ''air batu campur'' (), meaning "mixed ice"), is a

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

n dessert which is common in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

(where it is called ice ''kachang'') and

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...

. Traditionally, an ice shaving machine is used to churn out the

shaved ice Shaved ice is a large family of ice-based desserts made of fine shavings of ice or finely crushed ice and sweet condiments or syrups. Usually, the syrup is added after the ice has been frozen and shaved—typically at the point of sale; however, ...

used in the dessert, originally hand cranked but now more often motorised. Many

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

n coffee shops,

hawker centre A hawker centre or cooked food centre is an open-air complex commonly found in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. They were built to provide a more sanitary alternative to mobile hawker carts and contain many stalls that sell different variet ...

s and food courts sell this dessert. ''Ais kacang'' is considered one of Malaysia's most unique dishes and is featured in many articles as such.

History

Early versions of ice kachang was first known to have been prepared since 1900s in Singapore, after the First World War, where costs for ice manufacturing was becoming more affordable. A earlier variant of the Singaporean dish was described as green, made from shaved ice, paired with syrups, ''soaked seeds'' and seaweed jelly and was sold mainly by street vendors. The dish underwent many different alterations and variants throughout the history of Singapore, where during the 1920s, one version of it was described as shaved ice topped with rose water, lime or liquorice. A version of the dish, known as Kachang mera, was also sold during the 1930s. By the 1940s, the version of the dish described as "shaved ice heaped into a little mountain", topped with red beans, "a Chinese grape-like fruit", syrup and condensed or

evaporated milk Evaporated milk, known in some countries as "unsweetened condensed milk", is a shelf-stable canned cow’s milk product where about 60% of the water has been removed from fresh milk. It differs from sweetened condensed milk, which contains adde ...

, similar to how it is being prepared today. Some earlier variants of ice kachang are no longer sold, such as the ice ball version of the desert, which was popular during the 1950s till 1960s

Preparation

''Ais kacang'' was originally made of only shaved ice and red beans, though the number and diversity of ingredients has since expanded. Today, ''ais kacang'' generally comes in bright colors and with various fruit cocktails and dressings. In Malaysia, variants now contain a large serving of ''attap chee'' (palm seed), red beans, sweet corn,

grass jelly Grass jelly, also known as leaf jelly or herb jelly, is a jelly-like dessert eaten in East and Southeast Asia. It is created by using Chinese mesona (a member of the mint family) and has a mild, slightly bitter taste. It is served chilled, w ...

, roasted

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and ...

s and cubes of

agar agar Agar ( or ), or agar-agar, is a jelly-like substance consisting of polysaccharides obtained from the cell walls of some species of red algae, primarily from ogonori (''Gracilaria'') and "tengusa" (''Gelidiaceae''). As found in nature, agar is ...

as common ingredients. Other less common ingredients include aloe vera, ''

cendol Cendol is an iced sweet dessert that contains droplets of green rice flour jelly, coconut milk and palm sugar syrup. It is commonly found in Southeast Asia and is popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Laos, Vietn ...

'', ''

nata de coco ''Nata de coco'', also marketed as coconut gel, is a chewy, translucent, jelly-like food produced by the fermentation of coconut water, which gels through the production of microbial cellulose by '' Komagataeibacter xylinus''. Originating ...

'' and

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...

. A final topping of

, condensed milk or coconut milk is drizzled over the mountain of ice along with red rose syrup and sarsi syrup. Some stalls have even introduced novelty toppings such as durian, and

chocolate syrup Chocolate syrup is a sweet, chocolate-flavored condiment. It is often used as a topping or dessert sauce for various desserts, such as ice cream, or mixed with milk to make chocolate milk or blended with milk and ice cream to make a chocolate ...

. There are also versions that shun the multi-coloured syrup and are served instead with just a drizzling of palm sugar syrup. In Singapore, traditional ice kachang is usually made from shaved ice, packed into a mountain-like shape and consists of red beans, creamed corn, attap chee, cendol, and grass jelly, similar to the Malaysian version, and drizzled with syrups made from gula melaka, red rose syrup and pandan syrup. The dish has evolved to include fruits such as durian, mango, toppings such as

Milo Milo may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Milo'' (magazine), a strength sports magazine *'' Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze'', a 2011 children's novel by Alan Silberberg * ''Milo'' (video game), a first-person adventure-puzzle computer ga ...

, peanuts and sago pearls among others.

References

External links

Asiacuisine: Ice kacang
{{Ice-based snacks Bruneian cuisine Malaysian cuisine Singaporean cuisine Ice-based desserts

History

Preparation

See also

References

External links