Ice Cream & Rice
Kem Xôi – Rice and Ice Cream?
If you’re a teen listen up! If you’re a bit older, listen up anyway.
First, who doesn’t like ice cream? Easy answer – no one!
Secondly, who in Vietnam doesn’t like rice – again, no one!
Finally, who doesn’t like sticky rice with ice cream? Ah …. please repeat the question.
Okay, so I also really never heard of kem xôi … until recently. That would be kem (ice cream) served with xôi (Vietnamese glutinous sticky rice).
Mmnnn rice and ice cream? Not sure about that.
I agree – me too.
BUT, if I can try durian pancakes and duck embryos, I figured this should be a breeze.
So, walking back from the park the other day to our apartment, Hai and I noticed the festive sign.
Kem Xôi
Clearly they weren’t marketing their product to a retired ông tay (old white guy). But, what the heck! It’s hot. I went to the gym last night. I’ve earned a sweet treat. And eating ice cream at a new place – well – it’s my job!
So, Hai and I slowly cut our way through the busy traffic beside Le Thi Rieng Park and crossed over to Thanh Hằng Kem Xôi.
A tiny “hole in the wall,” just 3 tables. A spotless and fun little place, in a juvenile kind of way.
Certainly, the price was right. Most expensive thing on the menu 15,000 vnd (72 cents), with most items just 10,000 vnd (48 cents). I choose not to bust my budget and went for the Kem Xôi Sữa Xoài (ice cream with mango sauce and sticky rice.) Actually, at this point, the combination was beginning to sound good.
And it was. Very nice!
The ice cream was sweet vanilla, the mango sauce was from a bottle, yet still quite tasty. But most impressive, the sticky rice was excellent. Perfect in it’s texture and flavorful, with a dash of mung bean mixed in with the rice. All topped with some shredded coconut. A surprisingly pleasant and tasty afternoon sweet treat.
Kem Xôi
Free water !
We even were offered free water to refresh with our 48 cent ice cream order- take note Highlands Coffee!
The smiling owner gave Hai a brief tour of her “kitchen” and showed off her special ice cream freezer – looking much like a frozen R2D2. She also shared a little cup of the special xôi. Very tasty all by itself.
Xôi (sticky rice)
Thanh Hằng Kem Xôi – not a great Saigon culinary discovery. But, a very nice afternoon or evening stop for a simple and unique dessert.
Hai and I agreed Thanh Hằng Kem Xôi rates a YUM on Eating Saigon!’s Yum Meter.
Open from 10:00 am – 11:00 p.m.
Small, but a simple and a yummy treat
Thanh Hằng Kem Xôi
53 Trường Són Street
District 10
View Thanh Hằng Kem Xôi in a larger map
P.S. the picture of the special sticky Rice is actually xôi vò, which explain the combo.
Very interesting indeed !
There are quite a few changes and many new items have been introduced to the street food sceneries since 1975. It seemed that every time I visited Vietnam, I got to taste a few new dishes or saw some changes to the preparation of some old dishes; However,This beats them all! I’ll have to check this out on my next visit in a few months.
Historically there are a few Xôi và Chề combination that are mated to be eaten together like this in Northern Viet Nam such as Xôi vò + Chề đường or Chề đỗ đĩa. These items taste heavenly when mix together just like eating cold ice cream with hot apple pie. However, these type of food are confined within the walls of the family and not publicly offer for sale. I do believe this is the first mating between East and West :Đ
I have always been admiring the entrepreneurism from the Vietnamese folks!
btw, is the owner happen to be from North Vietnam ? with a name like Thanh Hằng, the origin is almost giving a clue :Đ