All about fried ice cream

Ice cream is one of my favourite all time foods. Why? It’s cold, creamy and can come in every single flavour possible. But what is one way to increase the textural elements and flavours in an interesting and unique way? Deep fry it of course!

Fried ice cream is a popular dessert often found at Asian restaurants. Despite this, its origins are blurry with some sources citing non-Asian backgrounds such as American, Mexican and even Polynesian. Regardless of who invented it, hats off to them for creating such a fine dessert.  If you’ve never tried it, fried ice cream consists of ice cream which has been frozen solid in extreme cold temperatures, coated with bread crumbs, pastry or a batter of some sort and then fried briefly to cook the exterior to a golden brown. But what makes it so darn tasty and popular among the masses? Here are our thoughts on what makes good fried ice cream:

Ice Cream

Normally the ice cream is served as a large scoop as it needs to be thick enough to not melt when deep fried. There have been some variations where it hasn’t been served in a ball shape, however it tastes best as a ball because that shape is supposedly best for maintaining the cold temperature required. Vanilla ice cream is also the norm but other flavours have also surfaced including green tea, chocolate and caramel. Call me boring, but I’m happy with plain vanilla flavoured ice cream as there is already so much happening in the other elements.

Coating

Most fried ice creams I’ve eaten have had a bread/cake-like coating with shaved coconut. Sometimes this proves to be a bit thick and can become soggy if left too long with the ice cream. Ideally, the coating should be golden brown, crispy and crunchy when served. One of the better ones includes Holy Basil‘s rendition which uses a thin layer of filo pastry that is delicate yet crunchy and flakes apart lightly when the spoon hits the surface.

Toppings

Common toppings are shaved coconut or icing sugar to give the fried exterior some extra flavour. Some restaurants also like to add sauces and syrups such as chocolate, caramel or strawberry sauce along with honey. For a lighter touch, request some whipped cream or fruits such as strawberries. Nuts are also a popular option to add some crunch, with The Abercrombie even offering a deep fried Golden Gaytime – wicked!

Have you tried fried ice cream? What do you think makes it so tasty? Let us know in the comments below.