Ais kacang is a Malaysian dessert which is also common in
Singapore and Brunei. Traditionally a special ice machine is used to churn out
the shaved ice used in the dessert, originally hand cranked but now more often
motorized.
Formerly, it was made of only shaved ice and red beans,
though the number and diversity of ingredients has since expanded. Today,
ais kacang generally comes in bright colours, and with different fruit
cocktails and dressings. In Malaysia, almost all variants now contain a large
serving of attap chee (palm seed), red beans, sweet corn, grass jelly and cubes
of agar agar as common ingredients. Other less-common ingredients include aloe
vera, cendol, nata de coco, or ice cream. A final topping of evaporated milk,
condensed milk, or coconut milk is drizzled over the mountain of ice along with
red rose syrup and sarsi syrup. Some stalls have even introduced novelty
toppings such as durian, chocolate syrup and ice cream. There are also versions
that shun the multi-coloured syrup and are served with just a drizzling of gula
melaka syrup instead.
Many Southeast Asian coffee shops, hawker centres, and food
courts offer this dessert. Nowadays, ais kacang is mostly known as 'ABC'
(acronym for Air Batu Campur, literally meaning "mixed Ice").
