I’m not the first writer from Inside Cuisine to have an addiction to Ais Kacang (Ice Kacang) the traditional Malaysian shaved iced dessert. But I am the most recent to have stopped off in Penang with a food fetish that centred around this street fare. The most luscious of my recent iced concoctions was served at my hotel – the Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa.
Complete with traditional creamy sweet corn, grass jelly and red beans this enormous helping was so delicious that I was able to get through every mouthful (with just a little help from my friends.) Traditional toppings include condensed (or evaporated) milk and a sweet red syrup.
This Penang trip also brought a new outlook to Ice Kacang with the discovery of a vintage Ice Kacang machine in the museum kitchen of the Pinang Peranakan Mansion.
Rebecca Varidel was a guest in Malaysia of Tourism Malaysia and Malaysia Airlines.
