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Ais kacang
Shaved ice with red beans
A shaved-ice mountain over red beans, sweetcorn and grass jelly, with rose syrup and condensed milk
Ais kacang ('bean ice'), also called ABC for air batu campur ('mixed ice'), is the towering, rainbow-coloured treat Malaysian kids beg for at food courts and hawker centres on hot afternoons. Underneath a snowy dome of shaved ice hide red beans, sweetcorn, cubes of black grass jelly and chopped peanuts; on top go streaks of pink rose syrup, dark palm-sugar syrup and a drizzle of condensed milk. Everyone digs in from the top and mixes it into a sweet, icy slush. Chef's tip: chill the bowls in the freezer for 15 minutes first, so the ice holds its peak long enough to get it to the table.
- Total time
- 20 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the palm-sugar syrup
- 2 ⅛ oz palm sugar (gula Melaka)chopped; or coconut sugar or dark muscovado
- ¼ cup water
For the bowls
- 7 oz cooked red (adzuki) beanscanned, drained; sweetened is fine
- 5 ½ oz sweetcorn kernelscanned, drained
- 7 oz canned grass jellycut into 1 cm cubes; check the label if avoiding gluten
- 3 ½ oz attap palm seeds (optional)from a jar, drained
- 1 ⅜ oz roasted peanutsroughly chopped
- 1 ¾ lb iceshaved, or frozen and scraped into snow
To pour over
- 4 tbsp rose syrupred 'bandung' style
- 4 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
- ½ cup evaporated milk
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Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Simmer 2 ⅛ oz palm sugar (gula Melaka) and ¼ cup water in a small pan over a low heat for 3–4 minutes, stirring, until dissolved and syrupy. Cool completely; hot syrup melts the ice at once.
5 minStep 2: Put four bowls in the freezer for 15 minutes. Divide 7 oz cooked red (adzuki) beans, 5 ½ oz sweetcorn kernels, 7 oz canned grass jelly, 3 ½ oz attap palm seeds and half the 1 ⅜ oz roasted peanuts between them.
15 minStep 3: Shave 1 ¾ lb ice over each bowl and pile it up into a tall mound, pressing gently with your palm to shape it. The common mistake is crushing ice cubes in a blender: you get crunchy chips, not soft snow. Use an ice shaver, or freeze water in a wide tub and scrape it with a fork.
Step 4: Drizzle each mound with 4 tbsp rose syrup and the palm-sugar syrup in stripes, then 4 tbsp sweetened condensed milk, and pour ½ cup evaporated milk around the base. Scatter over the remaining peanuts and serve with long spoons straight away.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 9 g
- Carbs
- 62 g
- Fat
- 7 g
- Fibre
- 6 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does ais kacang take?
- About 20 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 5 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of palm sugar (gula melaka)?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
- What can I use instead of sweetened condensed milk?
- Oat, soy or almond milk, same amount (use unsweetened for savoury dishes).
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