What's the history of Ais Kacang...

[Laksa]

Also Pan ..... Hazel could be a girl's name and 'biji' could mean something else altogether too but I'm not saying.    (I can't believe I even insinuated that much!    )

Since you won't say it, I will have to guess. So do they usually appear as "dua biji", and some biji are bigger than others?

And ...... there is a myth involving cendols and how the 'mamak' cendol don't go 'basi' (bad) considering that it has coconut milk and sits under the hot sun the whole day.  This is why I do not eat cendols from hawkers. LOL! 

Tell me what the myth is, I'm curious to know...

[jschyun]

I wanna see some pics. shaved ice pics, that is.

[JustKay]

Since you won't say it, I will have to guess.  So do they usually appear as "dua biji", and some biji are bigger than others? 

Nope.

Err.... I don't think I should reveal the secret/myth in a thread promoting Malaysian food! My Grandma swears it's true and so does my Mom who said that my Grandma did see it with her own eyes. Curiouser? Let's see who else knows about this.

Edited June 17, 2004 by kew (log)

[jschyun]

The botanical definition of a bean is : "any of various edible seeds of plants of the family Leguminosae"

And the definition of a nut is : Goddes of the Sky. Oops sorry I mean the botanical definition : " hard, dry fruit with an outer husk that sometimes does not split open readily and an inner shell that is papery to woody. "

I searched the Net (out of curiosity and confusion) and am unable to find anything that specifies if a Nut or Bean should grow underground or aboveground.

Therefore, I would say a peanut is a bean as well as a nut.

And how exactly is a peanut different from the pecans, almonds, etc ... since peanut is also a seed because you can grow a tree from it?

Well, this is not the botanical definition of a bean, it's the definition of a legume. I'm not going to go into the various genuses (geni?), because it's boring, but suffice to say that within the legume family, peanuts, beans, and peas are all classified separately. So peanuts are not beans, but they're pretty close cousins.

You want to hear something weird? Almonds are in the Rose family (yep, as in the flower) and are related to most of our fave tree fruits like cherries, apples, loquats.look here if you really want to know.

Hey I did not say this stuff made any sense. I am just the messenger.

Dude, you can't grow a tree from a peanut! hehehe. But if you can prove that you grew a tree from a peanut, I will give you $100 U.S. But if you try and cannot do it, then you must give me $100 U.S. Deal?

a not all that helpful page, but best I could find before going to work

[JustKay]

I do not bet, even if I know I'll win.

I don't know what peanut you're talking about dude but peanuts as I know them do grow from the peanut seed or whatever you call them where you are. Here in Malaysia, we call peanuts, kacang tanah. And yes, these will sprout.

I see peanut trees in the USA also can be grown from peanuts. And I also see that they're the same peanuts as the peanuts available here. (Actually, we also get 'American' peanuts here) I have also eaten peanuts from elsewhere and they do look and taste the same as the peanuts here.

From the Virginia-Carolina Peanuts website

(also scroll all the way down to learn how to grow a peanut tree)

I'll visit & read the first site you linked when I have some free time as I already know that. However, the almond 'nut' we talk about is the 'nut' and not the fruit. This is somewhat like nutmeg. It has a fruit too and the 'nut' is like the almond in the fruit. And oh, cashewnut does not have a hard shell nor pods. And it grows outside of the fruit. But, it's still a 'nut' as we know it, not?

Anyways ... from the second site you linked : "Although commonly thought of as a nut, peanuts are actually legumes and belong to the same family as the bean and pea. "

So ... peanuts are beans then if you're talking about 'family'

Actually, peanuts are not beans, they grow underground, while beans form aboveground. However, they are a legume, which is in the same family.

Anyhooo .... peanuts in Malaysia ie Kacang Tanah is considered as a bean as well as a nut.

And btw, in another thread peanuts are also called Sudanese Beans.

Let's get back to talking about the yummy and 'weird' dessert Ais Kacang shall we?

Edited June 17, 2004 by kew (log)

[Laksa]

Err.... I don't think I should reveal the secret/myth in a thread promoting Malaysian food! My Grandma swears it's true and so does my Mom who said that my Grandma did see it with her own eyes. Curiouser?    Let's see who else knows about this. 

Ok, let me guess.... they keep the coconut milk in a secret mini-fridge that's nuclear powered?

It's not anything disgusting, is it? Will it put me off eating cendol from a hawker? Well, thinking a little more about it, it's not difficult to keep the milk cold next to the ice blocks, right?

[jschyun]

I do not bet, even if I know I'll win.

*sigh* You won't, but that's because you're not a botanist.

Anyway, when you make ais kacang with shaved ice, how finely shaved is the ice. is it powdery fine, or is it rougher? do you wait until it's a little melted or do you just eat it right away?

[Laksa]

My absolute favorite dessert, that's usually served with only a small amount of shaved ice, not the mountain heap you see in ais kacang, is "go bi teng" or "wu wei tang". This dessert comprises red dates, barley, agar-agar, some clear squishy jelly-like thing that's also found in ais kacang, and a very sweet, chewy thing that tastes like dried, sugared fruit, in a sweet clear soup, served ice-cold.

Totally refreshing when the weather is hot.

I don't know the names of the last two ingredients, can anyone help? The first one is usually round, like a very small hole-less donut, usually clear, very mild in flavour, and has a very pleasant squishy texture.

The second tastes a lot like dried mango or dried pineapple, but is completely white in colour. Very sweet.

I also like nata de coco, served in a cold soup with tropical fruits.

I tried to google for a go bi teng recipe but no luck. Does anyone here know the recipe?

[Laksa]

Anyway, when you make ais kacang with shaved ice, how finely shaved is the ice.  is it powdery fine, or is it rougher?  do you wait until it's a little melted or do you just eat it right away?

I think the ice is as fine as the ice shaving machine makes it, no finer and no coarser I think a little on the grainy side.

As long as the sugary liquids are evenly distributed, meaning every morsel of ice has caught enough sauce to be tasty, I will eat the ice before it melts. I usually excavate a hole into the side of the mountain to get to the goodies at the bottom. A bit of bean with a bit of ice together.

What I dislike most is getting a mouthful of flavourless ice. Might as well be sucking on an ice cube.

[trillium]

I do not bet, even if I know I'll win.

*sigh* You won't, but that's because you're not a botanist.

Anyway, when you make ais kacang with shaved ice, how finely shaved is the ice. is it powdery fine, or is it rougher? do you wait until it's a little melted or do you just eat it right away?

The ice is scraped with a razor blade type deal, the fineness depends on how much pressure the ice has on it and how fast the blade is turning. At big shops they have really big powered machines, but you can buy little cheapo ice shavers at most SE Asian grocery stores in the US. It comes with little containers to freeze your water into discs that fit into the shaver and you hand crank it. I love mine during summer, we buy the chendol kits from the Vietnamese grocery stores and eat it all summer long.

regards,

trillium

[helenjp]

Well anyway, about the history of shaved ice!!

There's a famous passage in Sei Shonagon's "Pillow Book" that lists shaved ice dressed with liana syrup and served in a silver bowl under "Elegant Things".

That must have been stored winter ice, and I have no idea what liana syrup is, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that this dessert was imported to Japan from China or Korea...anybody know?