Kampar Ice Kacang 金宝杂雪 - Perak MFF#7

Ice Kacang or some call ABC is a common dessert found all over Malaysia and Singapore. It may go with other names in other countries in this region. I call it Jaap Suut 杂雪  , like most Cantonese speaking Kamparians do.

Generally there's not much rules regarding Ice Kacang.. different shops uses different ingredients. The type of ingredients that I have encountered in all the ice kacangs I have eaten all over Malaysia range from roasted peanuts, attap chee, agar-agar cubes, coconut shreds, canned cocktail fruits, canned longans, lychees, kidney beans, or even preserved nutmeg fruit shreds. Just anything goes into this dessert and it's up to the seller's imagination to make.

But in Kampar, that is not the case.

Kampar style ice kacang has a minimal range of ingredients. That is cendol, grass jelly, pink sago pearls, sweetened azuki beans, creamed corn, evaporated milk and of course.. the syrup. There is a choice of red syrup or gula melaka, and most of the time, they come with ONLY gula melaka. The gula melaka syrup here is on the dark side, that I suspect is mixed with dark brown sugar due to cost. There are some stalls that add in agar cubes(Gold Wing), or even shredded young coconut (if you're lucky at Gerai 36, I forgot the stall's number but it's handled by an elderly man and his son, and this stall adds in 1/2 Tbsp of coconut milk into their ice kacang), but the basic ingredients remain the same.

Authentic old time Kampar ice kacang does not have ice cream. But as time goes by, it seems to be a new trend to add ice cream, although it's optional. But if you ask me, will I add ice cream? I won't, because  it totally spoils the taste.  My fellow blogger friend Annie who is also from Kampar, is with me on this. Big NO NO to ice cream.

Back in those days.... I remember when I was 5, ice kacang was only 40 cents. Then it became 50 cents, then 60 then 80, then RM1 and RM1.30 and RM1.50........now... I think it's either RM2.50 or RM3 per bowl, without the ice cream. Wondering why the salary scale doesn't rise this way. The most famous ice kacang in town was no doubt Foong Mun Kee, situated along Jalan Idris. The shop has ice kacang as its main item and some other stuff that I do not remember of. Back in those days, before the highway was built, out of town passers by will purposely drop by just to have ice kacang at this shop. The taste is robust and intense. Not something we can find elsewhere. It was hard to get a table... nowadays, business is far less busy. I remember when I was a kid, I rarely saw the ice shaver stopping whenever I pass by the shop. It was always shaving and shaving, probably stopping just to change ice blocks. And take aways takes at least 15 minutes to wait. One can place the order and drive around town for a while, and come back to collect.
That was, those days.

Kampar Style Ice Kacang
Tasted and recreated by WendyinKK 

Unsweetened Grass jelly, cubed
Cendol, drained
Azuki beans, cooked and sweetened (You can reserve some from your red bean soup)
Sago pearls (cook them in boiling red dyed water until translucent, rinse with running tap water and soak in ice water for a short while)
Canned Cream style Corn
Evaporated milk
Dark Gula Melaka Syrup
Shaved ice or crushed ice if you can't get them shaved

Put 1 Tbsp each grass jelly cubes, cendol, azuki beans, and sago pearls into the bowl. Top with shaved ice. Pack it tight. Drizzle with dark gula melaka syrup and evaporated milk. Top with a Tbsp of creamed corn. Serve immediately.

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Dark Gula Melaka syrup
-the reason I emphasize it being dark is because some (not in Kampar) makes it light brown.

100gm gula kabung (nipah palm sugar) or 50gm dark brown sugar + 50gm gula melaka
100ml water
1 blade of pandan leaf, shredded.

Bring it to a boil and let it simmer for 15 minutes or until fragrant. Strain and cool down before use.

Avoid the ice cream if you ever have a chance to eat this in Kampar, 

Savour the true flavour of the ice kacang.

I am submitting this to Malaysian Food Fest Perak Month hosted by WendyinKK of Table for 2 or more