It's hot. Unbelievably hot. You've been walking through Singapore's Chinatown- a messy, crowded plaza filled with sweaty tourists. A lot of these tourists are cooling off with ice cream cones from dessert carts lining the streets, but almost none of them are cooling off with a Singaporean specialty dessert.
The problem is that they don't know how to order it. It's quite simple, actually. On the side of the ice cream carts there's usually a large piece of cardboard with rectangles on it.In these rectangles are crazy flavors that us Americans have never heard of before.
Sure, there are some normal ones. Strawberry, blueberry, and the like. But many of the rectangles have names such as durian, mangosteen, and red bean. Sweet corn seems normal, but as an ice cream flavor? Wow. Most tourists, upon seeing these foreign flavours, get scared off.
But you don't need to be worried. At least not yet. (We haven't reached the strange part). Let's say you muster enough courage to point to a rectangle meekly and look at the ice cream man. He opens up his cart, and takes out a block of ice cream. Yes, a literal block.
After taking out this block of ice cream, he gets a slice of bread out from a bag sitting on his cart. It's funny- you didn't notice that bag of bread sitting there before.
Let me tell you something about this bread. It's the best bread you'll ever taste in your life. It's not just great-tasting. It's soft and compliments the ice cream block folded in it perfectly.
Yeah you read that right. The ice cream block gets stuffed into the fold of bread. That's how Singaporeans eat their ice cream sandwiches.
I know it's unusual, but before you judge, let me tell you about how amazing it tastes.
God damn. Hot diggity dog. Normally, ice cream would melt off, and turn into some liquidy mess on your shirt. Not with this dessert. When you eat a Singaporean ice cream sandwich, the bread soaks in the extra ice cream and creates this soft and sweet delicacy to bite into.
The next time you find yourself in this amazing country, pick up an ice cream sandwich. Guaranteed 10/10.
