THAILAND: Instant Ice Cream!

One of the last stops we made in Thailand before sadly heading home, back to reality, was Koh Phi Phi.

Before I went to Thailand, a lot of people warned me against eating the street food… but when I was in Bangkok, I was given more sound advice: as long as you use your common sense, Thai street food can be the best (and cheapest) food around. This I found to be true and had a lot of flavoursome meals and snacks from a number of different street vendors.

On Koh Phi Phi, there wasn’t so much street vendors as open fronted cafes without seating. Similar rules applied here, use your common sense and you wont get an upset stomach! Again I enjoyed some delicious dishes but non so delicious and entertaining as the instant ice cream stand!

This ice cream stand was located on the main street in Phi Phi, at the edge of a tattoo palour and consisted of 2 “cold plates”, each with its own (what I like to call) “ice-cream sculptor” and an assortment of jars, full of chocolates, fruits, cookies, sauces etc.

The “ice-cream sculptor” started by pouring a mixture of vanilla, chocolate or yogurt flavoured cream & a choice of fillings into the centre of the cold plate. As the mixture hit the plate, it started to freeze and using metal spatulas the "sculptor" scraped and chopped the mixture and fillings.

When the mixture reached a semi-solid consistency, the “sculptor” spread a thin layer over the plate and scraped the spatula from 1 side to the other forming a roll of ice cream. He repeated this until all the mixture had been made into rolls, then placed these in a tub. “Squirty” cream and assorted toppings finished the masterpiece (take a look at the video at the bottom of the page)

The main attraction of this dessert was the fantastic show of watching your ice cream made before your eyes, however the taste had to pass muster also. I chose a yogurt flavour cream with chocolate brownies and white chocolate drops, and I am happy to say it tasted delicious! Similar in taste to Fro-Yo, the swirls of ice cream melted in my mouth to release the tiny chunks of white chocolate and brownie. This was nicely rounded off with the strawberry syrup and squirty cream. What is so great about the instant ice cream is that there is a flavour combo for everyone’s taste because you decide what you want!

In conclusion, I would definitely recommend this. Not only for the show beforehand but also for the yummy treat that you get to eat after!