These days, artisanal ice-cream places have sprung up everywhere there is, satisfying a craving that is all but impossible to ignore on hot days, but also introducing a range of innovative flavors that would bamboozle even the most experienced dessert aficionado.
However, amidst the scoops of bacon, salted caramel, and bubblegum-inspired ice-creams, some flavors truly stand out for putting a wicked twist on traditional local flavors. Here are 11 deliciously local Malaysian ice-cream flavours we think you should check out today.
Malaysians have been involved in a long love affair with this ingredient for as long as we remember. Sangkaya’s coconut ice cream that stands out because they use pure coconut milk instead of regular milk or cream in their ice-cream. The result? A sinfully rich scoop of coconut-y goodness that actually does taste of coconut milk, unlike the watered-down versions from most other sellers.
Go for their signature four scoops of ice cream served in a fleshy coconut husk with various toppings to choose from including toasted dessicated coconut, sweet corn, red bean, roasted peanuts, and more.
Sangkaya now has a slew of outlets all over the Klang Valley, and in Melaka as well.
Sangkaya
For a list of outlet locations, click here.
Website: Here
We all know that Malaysians love their nasi lemak and can have any time of the day. This love has now culminated in the creation of a nasi lemak flavoured gelato available at Cielo Dolci in Paradigm Mall!
Cielo Dolci has taken this local favorite to new heights, with bits of coconut rice churned together with their secret gelato base, then topped with the requisite roasted peanuts and fried anchovies. Not forgetting some dried chilli flakes for that spicy kick that nasi lemak just wouldn’t be complete without. Definitely one for the adventurous!
Cielo Dolci
For a list of outlet locations, click here.
It seems that everybody wants to jump onto the sweet and salty bandwagon these days – salted chocolate, salted caramel, salted fudge, salted shortbread, the list goes on and on and on.
In keeping up with the trends, The Last Polka offers a brilliantly simple salted gula Melaka ice cream. Any true blue Malaysian knows that there is an unmistakable fragrance to gula Melaka that sets it apart from ordinary caramel and this aroma shines through this smooth and creamy cupful. Dig deep to find delightful little nuggets of solidified gula Melaka, and one can blissfully forget all that hype about salted caramel.
While The Last Polka doesn’t have a store of its own anymore, various eateries stock their 500ml tubs of ice cream.
The Last Polka
For a complete list of stockists, click here or call +60 3-5036 7507.
It’s time for that most Malaysian of Malaysian flavors, the King of Fruits – the mighty and majestic durian! While most foreigners (Westerners in particular), and even some locals wouldn’t come within smelling distance without a gun in their back, those who love the durian do so with a fierce passion.
What better way to celebrate this fruit than with the old-school, nostalgia-inducing ais krim potong? The Potong offers handmade premium popsicles with all-natural ingredients that come in a variety of flavors, and their Musang King (the King of durians) is arguably one the most popular. They even cater for parties and events; just imagine the looks of joy on your guests’ faces when they unwrap these, guaranteed no potong-stim (sorry!).
The Potong
Stockists: Publika Solaris Dutamas, UG; Wondermama, Bangsar Village; Delectable Treats, Pavillion; The Soda Factory; Taman Bukit Desa; The Cafe, Royal Selangor Visitors Centre
Website: Here
Number: +6016-6822221
Email: thepotong@gmail.com
When ice-cream and a perennial mamak favourite meet, you get Milo Dinosaur ice-cream at Inside Scoop! For those craving for a local twist to the quintessential chocolate flavor, this is the tonic for you. And if that huge hit of malty goodness isn’t enough for you, you can opt to have it with one of the light and fluffy buttermilk waffles that Inside Scoop is known for.
Inside scoop
Address: Bangsar – No. 9, Jalan Telawi 3, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Damansara Jaya – 57, Jalan SS22/19, Petaling Jaya, 47400, Selangor, Malaysia
Number: +60 3-2202 0235
The Chinese among us have been down that road; waiting eagerly for the arrival of Chinese New Year every year so we can make rounds of our relatives’ houses and gorge ourselves on the smorgasbord of cookies and sweets. Of course, chief among these cookies is the ever-popular pineapple tart. Now you can satisfy those cravings all year round at Cielo Dolci, where they have incorporated this delectable treat into their ice cream.
With swirls of pineapple jam interspersed with crumbly, buttery pieces of pastry that simply melt in your mouth, close your eyes and you can almost see the red packets being handed out!
Cielo Dolci
For a list of outlet locations, click here.
Raise your hands, those of you who cannot start the day without a piping hot cup of teh tarik to fortify yourselves against the day’s upcoming challenges! With such universal appeal, it’s strange that it has taken all this while for somebody to put two and two together and come up with teh tarik ice cream, but the good folks at The Last Polka have finally done just that.
Their version is a fitting homage to this Malaysian staple with a slightly smokey, pronounced tea aroma blending harmoniously with the creaminess of the ice cream itself. Now you can enjoy your teh tarik on a hot day as well!
The Last Polka
For a complete list of stockists, click here or call +60 3-5036 7507.
We’re all familiar with that old refrain that Malaysians just cannot have enough of their chilies. There’s no other way to explain the fact that most of the dishes at hawker stalls come with chillies in some form or other, from the tangy version served with chicken rice to the fiery sambals accompanying nasi lemak.
Hence there’s absolutely no reason why chillies cannot be incorporated into ice-cream, much less chocolate ice-cream. Cielo Dolci (yes, those folks really do have a penchant for coming up with wacky flavors) incorporates the cili padi into their sinfully rich chocolate ice cream; the result is a blend that, curiously enough, works very well!
Cielo Dolci
For a list of outlet locations, click here.
Sometimes, the best way to start the weekend is to go for a relaxing old-school breakfast at the local kopitiam. Nothing screams old-school better than slices of thick-cut Hainan toast, slathered with homemade kaya and cold wedges of butter. While The Last Polka’s pandan kaya-inspired ice cream doesn’t have butter in it, what it does have is a generous amount of sweet, fragrant kaya, which lends its characteristic aroma superbly to this concoction.
After all, if peanut butter, jelly, and Nutella can all make their way into ice cream, surely old-school kaya deserves a place at the breakfast spread-inspired ice cream table too!
The Last Polka
For a complete list of stockists, click here or call +60 3-5036 7507.
This bright fruit has made it to the list of Pops Malaya flavours and makes for a truly refreshing way to cool off! Pops Malaya sells their popsicles at just RM4 a stick and pride themselves for using 100% natural fresh fruit flavours that you can taste with every lick.
Pops Malaya
Stockist: Cikrosecun; Taste of Malaysia
Number: 012 359 3004; 012-2570769
You can make orders via their Instagram account here and here.
The humble cempedak is often described as a cross between a jackfruit and a durian, and is one of those local fruits that are often overlooked. Swich Café in Publika is determined to turn this around, and judging by the rave reviews their cempedak ice cream cake has been getting, they’re doing a good job of it.
Swich’s offering marries a dense chiffon base with creamy ice cream made from cempedak from Johor for an elegant dessert that brings out the best of the aromatic fruit. If fried cempedak or the fresh variety just doesn’t cut it for you, then maybe this version will!
Swich Cafe
For a list of outlet locations, click here.
Number: +60127773247: 03 62018221; 0175777631
Website: Here
Artisanal ice cream hasn’t exactly been something that Malaysia has been known for, so it’s good to see that that trend is reversing, thanks to the valiant efforts of local and passionate ice cream lovers!
Maybe next time we’ll see even quirkier locally-inspired flavors such as serunding (another take on the bacon-inspired ice cream) or even laksa! What are some of your favourite local ice-cream flavours? Let us know in the comments section below!
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