Anyone who lives in the tropics will be familiar with these traditional, local desserts – shaved ice. They can be known by various names and locally, depending on what goes in, it could be “ais kacang” or “cendol”.
I had this treat last week on an incredibly hot day and it was the perfect treat! This one is a stripped down version of “ais kacang” which is boiled red beans covered with shaved ice and drizzled with palm sugar (gula melaka). It can get bigger, if you add bits of jelly and more miscellaneous treats. Sometimes, they add colourful syrup for flavour. Its like a treasure chest in there!
What do you call these where you are? 😀
On another day, I had “cendol” which is those green strips you see. Its made from glutinous rice flour and coloured green and flavoured with pandan leaves.
Shaved ice covers this dessert and is drizzled liberally with palm sugar and coconut milk. I had this in Melaka and it was pretty good. Sometimes, they add some boiled red beans too.
There are numerous variations of these desserts but these are the 2 most common versions we find locally. Every town will have their own famous stalls and versions of these and finding a good one is always cause for a delicious treat. I know that many countries have variations of these too, and are known by different names in different countries.
Do you have a famous shaved ice dessert or stall to recommend where you live? I’d love to try them all! 😀
Paris B
Scrumptious Saturday : One day in a week where I dish out random scrumptiousness from my other love – food!
shusheshe says
May 12, 2012 at 9:24 amWe have these in Taiwan! They are my favourite summer desserts! Generally though, I like the ones that are topped with fruit, like mangoes!
Paris B says
May 14, 2012 at 5:46 pmOut of curiousity, what do they call this in Taiwan? 😀 Just in case I visit some day. I know the mango ice desserts are very popular in Taiwan and Hong Kong and they are delicious too!
Jenn says
May 12, 2012 at 9:54 amI LOVE ice kacang and cendol! 😀 I like my ice kacang topped with fresh mangoes… mmmm!! 😀
My favourite cendol stall is the one at Penang Road – yes the one where you have to eat it by the roadside (which adds to the whole experience! 😉 ) though you can enjoy it comfortably in the coffee shop next to it for a higher price. My friend also brought me to this stall in Kulim, Kedah manned by an Indian lady who has been selling cendol pulut for 30 years… its THE BOMB but sadly i cant remember how to go back! T_T
Paris B says
May 14, 2012 at 5:47 pmIce Kacang with mango. Yummy!! I always stop by Penang Rd. for the cendol when I’m in Penang. I have it the authentic way, standing by the roadside, hiding from the sun and hoping not to be knocked down by a car hehe… I’m sure Kulim isn’t that big… ermm… time to take a drive there? 😉
Liz says
May 12, 2012 at 10:17 amIf its in a bowl like above, we call it “ABC” (short for ‘ais batu campur’) and if its in a glass, we call it “cendol”. I’m craving for this now no thanks to your post! XD
Paris B says
May 14, 2012 at 5:48 pmHow very interesting Liz! For us, cendol is the one with the green “worms” so its the same whether its in the glass or in a bowl but how very interesting 😀
Tracy says
May 12, 2012 at 11:32 amSo cool. The food you show is so different! You’d never find beans on a dessert here. I’d love to try it!
Paris B says
May 14, 2012 at 5:49 pmOh Tracy, you have to come and visit me here at the equator 😛 But I’m sure if you walk into an Asian restaurant, they may have these red bean soup or ice dessert things or even red bean pancakes. They are usually sweet and I never thought about how odd it might seem to a Westerner till you mentioned it. Most of your beans are savoury aren’t they? 😀
Jacqueline says
May 12, 2012 at 12:21 pmWe have many versions including durian but my fav is still the traditional ice kacang with condensed milk and red beans. I miss the days where they had 3 colored syrups instead of the standard 2 now, red, green and yellow. Chendol is also very good I love gula melaka.
Paris B says
May 14, 2012 at 5:51 pmMmm… I love a nice big towering bowl of ais kacang with all that colorful syrup and gula melaka and underneath, all that delicious red beans, jelly, cincau and atap chee! 😀
Jyoan says
May 12, 2012 at 2:14 pmOur ice kacang is very, very fancy. I was quite shock by how all the shaved ice desserts in Malaysia are so flat. haha. We have durian and mango ice kacang.
And for some reason, cendol has become chendol in Singapore.
To me, they taste the same everywhere, as long as they use black sugar. But for Chendol, I am very fussy. And I only like those that use kidney beans, not red beans. And the green strips must be thick and fat.
Paris B says
May 14, 2012 at 5:52 pmLOL!! We keep to the traditional ways here 😉 I have seen some fancy ones too but for the most part, the ones from the roadside stalls will be pretty flat but still pretty good 😉 I think cendol is spelt chendol to make sure people get the right pronunciation but it may be the old Malay spelling too 🙂 You should make a trip to Penang and have the famous Penang Road cendol. It fulfils all your criteria of a good one 😉
Jyoan says
May 14, 2012 at 7:02 pmOkay, I will try. It’s just hard going places in Malaysia without a car. haha. But yes, I think the desserts in Malaysia are so much more true in the sense, they don’t stinge on ingredients. I ate a milo prata that uses one full cup of milo powder! You’d never get that in Singapore. Everything is about costs.
Paris B says
May 14, 2012 at 11:39 pmAh… You can fly into Penang if there are offers hehe… Locally, the quality of a lot of food has dropped too. Costs too!
Swati says
May 12, 2012 at 3:25 pmooh…here in India…we call it a “gola” means a round ball!! here we take it with sweetedned syrups of varioussssss colors and you know what, I have never ever had it till date!!! weird, no!!! but, this seems pretty interesting with boiled beans and all the edible stuff. 🙂
Paris B says
May 14, 2012 at 5:54 pmWow Swati! How could you not have had a “gola”? 😀 Time to remedy that! hehe… interestingly, in Malay, a round ball will be “bola” which isn’t very far from “gola”! How interesting right?
Swati says
May 17, 2012 at 8:25 pmhaha…so true 🙂 will deifnitley give it a try next time I come across it!!!
Sze Ling says
May 12, 2012 at 5:39 pmPenang Road cendol (in Penang, of course)! Hands down the best. 😀
I don’t know what they did differently, but it’s something with that gula Melaka mixture. Addictive!
Paris B says
May 14, 2012 at 5:57 pmYes! I make sure I stop for a bowl or two when I’m in Penang 😀 Its really good. I’m sorta missing it now. Time to head north I think 😉
atousa says
May 12, 2012 at 7:49 pmin Iran we call it “yakh dar behesht”, it means “ice in heaven”, but it’s different from yours in Malaysia, it is shaved ice mixed with fruity syrups. it is quite popular in summer.
Paris B says
May 14, 2012 at 5:58 pmHi there! Thanks for sharing the Iranian name, and I think its absolutely fascinating that shaved ice desserts are popular all over the world, and in different forms 😀
Sunny says
May 12, 2012 at 9:11 pmWe have this back home *jumping up and down*
I’m not a fan of boiled red beans (though I know a lot of people are. My mom is), but I really love it with tapioca pearls and all the chewy things we have :p Not surprising right? I love to chew!
Paris B says
May 14, 2012 at 5:59 pmTaiwan is famous for their ice desserts! 😀 I’m not a fan of red beans too haha! I used to order mine with just jelly and no beans. Seems like I have to go to Taiwan soon to try its food and desserts. 😀
Sunny says
May 14, 2012 at 6:01 pmCome this summer lady (or any summer, because that’s when I tend to show my face in Taipei haha)! We’ll do the town and eat so much till we both put on a couple of kilos (actually, I always lose weight when I’m back home. I think all the excitement coupled up with walking around so much sees to that)!
Mira says
May 13, 2012 at 9:50 amI love cendol and ais kacang with glutinous rice and durian~~~ ^^ Fav treat on hot day!
Paris B says
May 14, 2012 at 6:05 pmAhhh I’ve never tried it with durian (!!) But I’m not much of a fan of the fruit so I guess I’m not missing anything. But pulut? That’s interesting! I’ll have to try next time 😀
Indira says
May 14, 2012 at 2:52 pmI’m Indonesian and I don’t know that ‘cendol’ is available in Malaysia (and with that name! I thought it would be called something else) 🙂
Paris B says
May 14, 2012 at 11:27 pmHaha I didn’t know it’s in Indonesia too! I think in our region we share a lot of similarities in food and culture. That’s sort of nice 🙂
Sam says
June 4, 2012 at 1:55 pmI love chendol. In Perth, Australia, I recommend Taurus 🙂
Natalie says
July 21, 2013 at 1:15 amOh shaved ice dessert is popular in Korea too! When I visited Malaysia, it was so hot, I ate Ice Kachang for breakfast lol