The ''ais kacang'' man

When I was home in Kuching in July, I remember the time when I paid a brief visit to this "ais kacang" stall. It's located opposite the Wayang Street Chinese Temple which you can promptly locate on Google Maps.

My dad used to tell me that when he was studying in St. Joseph's school 30 years ago, he used to come to this exact same stall, and the ''ais kacang'' was [and still is] good and cheap.

The ''tauke'' [entrepeneur] unloads his wares from his van, and almost never fails to set up his stall each weekend. Sometimes during the durian season, he would sell durians instead of ''ais kacang''.

I would think that the ''ais kacang'' in Kuching caters more for my taste buds instead of those from West Malaysia, where they serve all sorts of condiments such as ice cream, peanuts, etc.

I ordered a bowl, and sat myself down on a timber bench with some other customers who were in the middle of savoring their ice kacang, in the middle of a hot, humid afternoon.

The tauke promptly took a large block of ice from a polystyrene box nearby, and grinded it with a machine to produce shaved ice. He then pours some syrup, jelly, red beans and evaporated milk over the ice. Voila!

It didn't take too long for my bowl to be served. I savored every last drop of it, and promptly paid my dues (which by the way, only costs RM 1.70 / AUD 0.60). By comparison, a small cup of coffee from a cafe costs a AUD3.

I hope this road side stall is still around when I return home. Good Kuching ''ais kacang'' is hard to replicate elsewhere :)

ps: I apologise for not being able to photograph an example of the finished product. I was so thirsty I finished all of it before I remembered to do so..