Ice Cream Bread

With the temperature averaging at a sweltering mid-30 degrees celsius these days, what could be better than some ice-cream? And not just a small little ball – a whole thick slab, now that’s even better.

There are many ways to enjoy ice cream in the world, but how we do it here is special. Our old school ice cream comes in a generous rectangular slab, sandwiched in either a “rainbow” bread (which really only has pink and green swirls) or two thin wafer biscuits. The bread soaks up every single drop of melted ice cream, and at the end of it, you’re left with clean hands and a satisfied tummy.

It’s not clear why and when we started to have our ice cream in this way, though Uncle Chieng, an old school ice cream vendor who has been in the business since 1965, said in an interview that in the 1960s, thin round sticks were still being used (think potong). But innovative ice cream uncles soon decided to use small round biscuits to hold ice cream. This made enjoying ice cream more fuss-free, with no need to hunt for a bin at the end – the packaging was also the food. Eventually, the ubiquitous colourful bread was also introduced into the equation.

And that is how our “must eat” ice cream bread was formed, a product of pragmatism, with a side of being absolutely delicious.