Pim Thai Food features Thailand’s delicious and one of a kind deserts

Thailand’s Version of Ice Cream

Thailand’s cuisine is a fascinating jumble of adaptation, ingenuity, and creativity. The Thai experience with ice cream “I-tim” or “Ais-u-creem” as it is known throughout the Kingdom, is a classic example of how the country’s eating habits have evolved.

Frozen desserts seem to be a Chinese invention. There is evidence that primitive forms of ice cream were eaten in frigid areas of China as far back as 2000 BC. Flavored water ices were being eaten regularly when Marco Polo arrived and impressed Italy’s famous traveler so much that he took recipes with him when he returned to Europe.

The first step was to make flavored frozen ices. This was accomplished in several ways and some of them are still followed today. The I-tim laht that are sold by mobile vendors and in Thailand’s traditional markets provide a fascinating glimpse into the past. These “Popsicles” or “ice lollies” are made in an extraordinary contraption fabricated from stainless steel. Tubes slide into a rack that is fitted into a large container that is filled with ice and salt. The rack is shaken back and forth to promote freezing. When the ice is almost frozen, a bamboo stick is inserted so that tube of frozen ice can be enjoyed without the consumer ending up with sticky hands.

The Thais, who didn’t have a lot of dairy products, reached the same conclusion and began to make “ice cream” from coconut milk. The taste and texture of I-tim kati soht is slightly different, but coconut milk has the fat necessary to make a dessert similar to the ice cream made from dairy products.

The flavors of Thailand’s frozen ices and coconut ice cream are unique and virtually unknown as dessert flavorings to Westerners. Millet, corn, basil seeds, red beans, black beans boiled with syrup, and laht chong, a bright green noodle flavored and colored with pandanus leaves, are some of the favorites. Try finding these flavors and toppings at your local Baskin-Robbins!

Even now, when dairy products are readily available in Thailand, the ice cream made by vendors and hawkers is often made solely from coconut milk or from a combination of dairy milk and coconut milk.

Although slightly different from the Western product, it is unique and flavorful in its own right. The Thai fondness for ice cream made from coconut milk probably isn’t only a question of taste preference. The Thais, like most people in the Asia, have difficulties digesting lactose, the sugar that occurs naturally in milk. Since lactose doesn’t occur in coconut milk, large quantities of coconut based ice cream can be consumed without the irritating side effects produced by dairy ice cream.

Traditional Thai ice cream is available in a variety of places. Vendors with boxes filled with ice and coconut ice cream, cruise the streets and sois of Thailand with their bicycles and motorbikes. Children pester their parents for a few baht so that they can enjoy the rich cold sweetness. The scene is one of the most fascinating things about Thai ice cream is the way it is served. Ice cream cones are popular, but most Thais prefer their ice cream dished up in a hot dog bun! The bun is opened and small scoops of one or more flavors of ice cream are placed in a row. A topping or two – often unique to Westerners – is poured on top and the ice cream and bun are then eaten like a hot dog! The result is delicious, unusual and uniquely Thai.

Old Recipe for Thai’s Traditional Coconut Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
½ cup water
3 ½ cups thick coconut milk

Procedure:

1. In a sauce pan, heat the water and melt the sugar so that a thick syrup is formed, taking care not to scorch the sugar. It should be thick enough to coat a spoon or paddle.
2. Remove from the heat and when the syrup has cooled to the point where it is warm, add the thick coconut milk.
3. Put the mixture in the container of an ice cream maker and crank for about 45 minutes. If desired, after about 25 minutes, shredded coconut or a chopped fruit of your choice can be added.
4. When finished cranking, pour the ice and ice water out of the ice cream maker and put in new ice and salt. Cover the entire ice cream maker with a blanket or newspapers and let sit for about thirty minutes.
5. Remove the ice cream from its container and ready to serve.