Ais kacang

Ais kacang is a cold dessert from Malaysia and Singapore made from a mountain of shaved ice topped with red beans, flavored syrups and milk. Its Malay name translates roughly as 'bean ice', and it remains one of the most popular desserts sold at hawker stalls across Southeast Asia.

History

The earliest versions of ais kacang are thought to date from around the First World War, when making ice became cheaper and more widely available. An earlier Singaporean variant, described as green, combined shaved ice with syrups, soaked seeds and seaweed jelly, and was sold mainly by street vendors.

The dish changed considerably over the twentieth century. In the 1920s, Singapore sources describe shaved ice with rose water, lime or liquorice, and in the 1930s a version called kachang mera used canned adzuki beans. By the 1940s, a form close to today's appeared: a heaped mountain of ice topped with red beans, fruit, syrup and condensed or evaporated milk. Other variants, such as the ice ball of the 1950s and 1960s, have since disappeared.

Today the dessert is common across Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

Culture

Ais kacang is a dessert of coffee shops, hawker centres and food courts, made for the tropical heat. Traditionally the ice was shaved in a machine that was once hand-cranked and is now usually motorised. The base typically includes attap chee (palm seed), red beans, sweet corn, grass jelly and agar agar cubes, with cendol and, at some stalls, nata de coco or ice cream added.

Bright colours and multicoloured syrups are characteristic of the Malaysian style, while Singapore's version often uses gula melaka, or palm sugar syrup. Some stalls have added durian, chocolate syrup or Milo to attract younger customers, and simpler versions are finished with palm sugar syrup alone. The dessert remains a regular part of everyday life in both countries.

Trivia