"What is it?" Mom asked. Aunt asked too.
"Peanut ice-cream," I said.
I had peanut ice-cream for the first time in Taiwan. I was at Nantien temple at Yilan. It was a Matzu temple. I remembered that the temple was dark inside ... and filled with thick smoke from the incense. Hence, I was not much interested in going inside. While waiting for the others, I wandered to the stalls nearby, and was tempted to try the peanut ice-cream. The vendor shaved a whole block of peanut brittle .. and then served it on a crepe-like skin, topped with ice-cream and cilantro. Though it's been many years, I vividly remember enjoying the ice-cream so much.
Someone posted pictures of the peanut ice-cream online .... and I was interested to eat it at the Kuching Festival Fair. So, from the moment I stepped into the fair, I was on the lookout for the peanut ice-cream.
Needless to say, I got side-tracked by the multitude of food on sale .... and ended up with ....
Crispy yam cake ... and yam cake skewers.
Crispy yam on the left, 7 pieces for RM1.00
Yam cake skewer on the right was also RM1.00
Of the two, I prefer the crispy yam cake ... which I felt were tastier. I could taste bits of yam and dried prawns in the cake. The texture was springy ... it was not bad, but not really to-die-for.
Sesame balls
Red bean on the left, RM1.00 per piece
Yam paste on the right, RM1.50 each
Sesame balls
The skin was chewy and very tasty with the nutty flavour of the sesame seeds. I liked the red bean filling, which was very sweet and satisfying. Mom preferred the yam paste filling, which was less sweet. She thought it was more fragrant compared to red bean.
Custard Steamed Bun or Liu Sha Bao
This was bought from the Imperial Duck Stall
Sigh ... the salted egg custard was supposed to flow out ... but it did not. It would only flow if it was steamed till it's really hot. This one .... hmn ... not served at the right temperature. Luckily, it tasted alright. I could taste the salted egg in the custard and it was not too sweet.
There were so many stalls selling fried ice-cream ...
I could not resist buying one piece, RM1.80
The ice-cream was still frozen inside the bread-like casing .... hmn ... I used to love fried ice-cream last time .... but now ... I thought it was not so yum. Perhaps I did not buy from the right stall.
A Taiwanese sausage, original flavour, RM2.00
I did not like it ... thought it tasted of cinammon ....
Pork Satay, RM0.60 per stick
They looked dark and burnt ... but in fact they were quite tender. These were from the Hui Sing stall a.k.a. Satay House. The peanut gravy was not spicy at all ... and was rather sweet. I had not eaten this pork satay for ages. It was once very popular among Kuchingites.
And from the Durian Puff stall .... I bought
Durian Puff, RM3.00
I loved the soft pastry generously filled with durian cream .... I thought it was really satisfying.
Durian Hokkaido Cake, RM3.00
The cake was alright, soft and all .... it was also filled with durian cream. But the puff was tastier.
How about my peanut ice-cream? Hmn .... it was Fourth Aunt who saw the stall and alerted me.
The stall
Crepe ... topped with chopped peanuts and 3 small scoops of coconut ice-cream
All rolled up ...
After taking a bite ...
Hmn .... and utterly disappointed with it. It was not compact-filled enough .... and that refreshing flavour of the cilantro was missing .... :((
Sigh .... I shall continue to pine for and search for that delicious and satisfying peanut ice-cream that has embedded itself in my memory ... perhaps I need to go to Taiwan once more.
Well ... so much for saying that I only wanted to eat 1 thing. I ended up distracted, and eating close to 10 different things .... there goes the diet today. :P
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