The Philippines might have its fair share of unique ice cream flavors but it hasn’t seen anything like this Sichuan soft serve yet. Sure, sili ice cream and spicy chocolate gelato are already pretty common here but reports online promise that this new mix of sweet and spicy is unlike anything you’ve ever had before.
The newest craze in Sichuan, spicy chili crisp on ice cream. @maxfalkowitz I think you’ve started something pic.twitter.com/vfWFSS5p9S
— Jing Gao (@jingtheory) October 22, 2018
Apparently, people have been lining up in the cities of Chongqing and Chengdu (which are both in China) just to get a taste of this. It’s said to have come from a small stall on Chunxi road where they topped off vanilla soft serve ice cream with intense chili oil. The merchant ascribes its popularity to the “double heat” sensation it gives.
According to Jenny Gao, the Twitter user (and chef) who brought attention to the ice cream, the idea comes from an internet subculture called “hei an liao li” or “dark cuisine”. It refers to flavor profiles which are deliberately crazy and sometimes even gross. It just so happened that this one worked out for the better.
But it’s not all that surprising, considering that opposites really do attract. Add in the fact that the Sichuan province is known for their deft hand at spiciness, then this new hit makes even more sense. So the only question left is, when are we going to get to try this in Manila!?
Do you think this ‘tongue-numbing’ combo is more likely to be great or gross?
