Referring to Con Dao cuisine, people often think of dishes from fresh seafood. But in addition to seafood, this place also has a very delicious snack, which is Con Dao Coconut Ice Cream.
By Thomas Vietnam at vemekong.com | Official Con Dao Visitor Guide
1. Better to Know as a Food Lover
Find them: Con dao.
Best time: Dusk-Dawn
Don’t miss: Coconut Ice Cream
Local’s pick: Duc Bao Coconut Ice Cream restaurant
Tourist’s pick: Coconut Ice Cream Restaurant in Con Dao
Blog: https://vemekong.com/coconut-ice-cream-con-dao/
Facts: If you had to vote for a memorable dish when leaving Con Dao, coconut ice cream would be the top candidate. If you want to try a new dish or simply want to keep up with the trend, don’t miss this dish!
2. Better to Know Coconut Ice Cream
Walking around Con Dao, it is not difficult to see the idyllic ice cream carts and ice cream shops called “Con Dao Coconut Ice Cream”. The reason for this name is because ice cream is made from typical coconuts in Con Dao, so it has a very unique flavor, attracting diners. The reason Con Dao ice cream has its own flavor is because it retains the essence of ice cream ingredients such as flour, milk and coconut milk, handmade, without overusing industrial flavor. Ice cream ingredients are carefully selected. Old coconut has thick and white flesh for getting the coconut milk, absolutely do not use too old coconuts, has a strange smell of oily; Coconut to make coconut grind must have moderate dryness, so coconut cream has the fat and aroma of coconut.
Coconut ice cream satisfies both sight, taste and smell for diners when coming here. After enjoying the skillful coconut chopping performance of the ice cream owner, diners will enjoy delicious coconut ice cream. The gentle aroma of coconut cream faintly adds the fatty taste of coconut, peanuts, and the sweetness of condensed milk. The plus point of this dish is both flexible and soft, the cream texture is smooth, not crushed, the taste is not too sweet. Each ice cream is smoky, fragrant, and greasy, making visitors eager to enjoy. Try sipping a spoon, the sweet ice cream melts on the tip of the tongue, blended with the taste of Con Dao coconut, with milk and peanuts. Not to mention when eating ice cream, diners can also eat a fresh, fat, and delicious coconut, the feeling of delicious blend must be very mouth-watering and unforgettable.
3. Coconut Ice Cream in Con Dao
Pham Van Dong route is home to many coconut ice cream shops in Con Dao. There are many ice cream shops, but many people choose to enjoy it as Con Dao Duc Bao Coconut Ice Cream shop with only 30,000 VND/piece. The owner of the coconut ice cream shop is a resident of the island for many years, knowing the origin of the product, he always chooses the best quality coconuts, according to him the quality of the product is the most important thing, most customers come to the restaurant for the 2nd and 3rd time; Some customers even ordered him to pack boxes and send them to the mainland to eat to avoid addiction. In the tourist season, he sells without rest. The coconut used as a coconut is the one that is flexible, has fat, is halved, and drains the water out. The coconut is picked up and then scooped up the cream, then put in milk, peanuts, and that’s it. Coconut water is poured into a large mug next to it, whoever wants to drink it, pour it into a glass and drink it, as much as you like, it’s okay to drink without buying ice cream. Coconut island has small fruit, not much water, but very sweet, and fragrant after drinking for a long time. The interesting thing is that many tourists eat one fruit and then another and then a coconut ice cream.
4. How to Make Coconut Ice Cream
Ingredient
1 coconut
400ml coconut milk
250 ml fresh cream
3 chicken eggs
200g sugar
10 ml Vanilla flavor
20g cocoa powder
15 g unsalted butter
peanuts, crispy desiccated coconut
Guide
Step 1: Make whipped cream
First, you take 3 eggs and separate the whites and yolks into 2 different bowls.
Then, you put 90 g of sugar into the bowl of yolks and stir well until the mixture becomes light yellow.
Next, you put 400 ml of coconut milk in a pot and boil over medium heat. When you see steam rising, turn off the stove. Then, you add a little coconut milk to the beaten egg mixture and stir well. Just do this in turn until the coconut milk is gone, pour 5 ml of vanilla flavor and stir well until the vanilla dissolves into the mixture. Let the mixture cool completely.
Step 2: Whip fresh cream
You put the whipped cream tool in the freezer for about 30 minutes, then bring it out and put it in the ice cream machine. You put 250 ml of fresh cream into a bowl and turn on the ice cream machine at the highest speed.
You beat until the cream is fluffy but still light, then switch to medium speed and beat until the cream is both fluffy and stiff, then turn off the machine.
Step 3: Make ice cream
When you beat the whipped cream enough, add the egg – coconut milk mixture and stir well until the mixture is smooth.
When the mixture is complete, pour the mixture into a container, close the lid and put it in the freezer. You put it in the freezer for about 3 hours, then take it out using a fork to stir and then continue to put it back in the freezer. After 3 hours, take it out and turn the ice cream a second time. After the second turn, put the ice cream box back in the freezer for at least 10 hours for the ice cream to harden.
Step 4: Make chocolate sauce
To make chocolate sauce, you put 110g of sugar and 20g of cocoa powder in a pot, then add 130ml of water and stir well until the cocoa powder dissolves, then turn on the stove to medium heat. Stir with your hands until the chocolate is boiling, then add 15 g of peanut butter and continue stirring until the chocolate continues to boil.
You let the chocolate boil for about 2 minutes, then turn down the heat to low and continue to boil for 4 minutes, then turn off the heat. After turning off the stove, you add the remaining 5ml of vanilla flavor and stir well.
Step 5: Make coconut ice cream
Peanuts are roasted until golden, then peeled and smashed. Next, you take the dried coconut jam and smash it.
You take a Siamese coconut with a thin layer of copra, peel off the outer shell and then cut it in half. Then you scrape the copra from the shell.
Next, you take the ice cream that has been frozen enough from the refrigerator, take the ice cream spoon to scoop the ice cream balls into half a Siamese coconut. Next, you sprinkle peanuts and crushed desiccated coconut jam on the surface of the cream. Finally, you put the chocolate sauce on top to complete the delicious coconut ice cream.
5. Pro tips:
Here are our tips for easing your mind (and stomach) around food-handling environments that you may not be used to.
Make sure the food is freshly cooked. If you’re eating hot street food, it’s always safest (not to mention more delicious) to eat food you can see being cooked to order.
Look for lines and busy stalls. Busy street food stalls are an indicator of popularity, and their high turnover rate means the food is never sitting out for hours and developing dreaded bacteria. Yes, long lines can be discouraging when you’re hungry after a full day of exploring, but it’s not worth the risk of grabbing precooked food from the empty spot next door.
Eat when the locals are eating. The last and most important element here is when to eat. You’re likely already on a weird eating schedule while you’re traveling, but it’s important to try and adjust to the eating times of where you are. A bowl of pho might be lunch for Americans, but it’s breakfast for the Vietnamese. This ensures that you’re eating freshly cooked food and that you can find the best and most popular places to eat.
If you can’t drink the water, then you can’t eat the salad. Most people get so hung up on not drinking the water or skipping ice in drinks that they don’t think about all of the other ways in which water is used in food service. Fruits and vegetables tend to be washed with tap water in most places, rather than the filtered water that locals drink—or sometimes it’s not washed at all. If you’re really craving some produce, try fruits you can peel or cooked veggies.
Trust your gut. If you’re unsure about the food or the way that it’s being prepared, then keep moving. Eating street food all over the world doesn’t make you an expert. Every stall and every country are different, and sometimes the rules can be harder to follow. When something doesn’t look, smell, or feel right, don’t eat it! Trust your judgment. Chances are that there’s another spot close by that’s making something more delicious.
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Can Tho: Co Ut’s Cong cake, Ut Dzach Fine Rice Vermicelli, Thanh Van Grilled Pork Sausage, Crab Noodle Soup At Floating Market, Scorched Rice with Caramelized Fish Sauce, 7-Toi’s Duck Meat Pancake, Banh Mi Thuy, Banana Blossom Salad, Fried Spring Rolls, Fresh Spring Rolls, Fetal duck egg (balut), Honeycomb Cake, Mini Sticky Rice Cake, Cassava Silkworm Cake, Grilled Banana Wrapped in Sticky Rice, Khmer-style Bun Goi Da Soup, Egg Coffee, Con Son Grilled Snakehead Fish, Bun Mam – Fermented Fish Noodle Soup, Lau Mam – Fermented Fish Hotpot, Grilled Snails with Pepper, Magenta Sticky Rice Cake, Duck cooked with Fermented Tofu, Rice Noodle Pizza, Vegetarian Noodle Soup, Snails Stuffed With Pork…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Chau Doc: Chau Doc Fish Noodle Soup, Sugar Palm Fruit, Basa Fish Hot Pot, Mam (Fermented fish), Phu Huong Beef Noodle Soup, Broken Rice with Pork Chop, Long Xuyen Broken Rice, Nui Cam Pancake, O Thum’s Chicken Grilled with Lime Leaves, Stir-fried Shrimp with Sesbania Flower, Sweet & Sour Soup with Siamese Mud Carp Soup & Sesbania Flower, Caramelized & Braised Catfish, Grilled Rice-field Rat with Salt and Chili…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Soc Trang: Pia Cake, Cong Cake (Banh Cong), Bun Nuoc Leo Soc Trang’s Noodle Soup, Soc Trang’s Bun Goi Da Soup, Duck Noodle Soup with black Pepper, Curry Noodle Soup, Grilled Beef on Tile, Khmer-style Tube Cake, Khmer-style Mung Bean Cake (Banh In), Dried Radish (Xa Bau), Stir-Fried Noodles with Seafood (Mi Sua), Soc Trang’s Green Rice Flakes…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Ben Tre: Phu Le Rice Wine, Ben Tre’s Coconut Candy, Flat Banana, Coconut Rice, Snail Pancake, Sea Snail with Coconut Milk, Coconut Worm, Young Coconut Salad with Shrimp & Pork, Son Doc Puff Rice Paper…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Cai Be: Puffed Rice Cake…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Vinh Long: Elephant Ear Fish (fried giant gourami)…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in My Tho: Fried Sticky Rice, Snakehead Fish Rice Porridge, Hu Tieu My Tho (Noodle Soup), Coconut Banana Cake…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Tra Vinh: Macapuno Coconut, Bun Nuoc Leo Tra Vinh’s Noodle Soup, Tra Cuon’s Sticky Rice Cake…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Sadec: Sa Dec Noodle Soup, Sadec Crab Hotpot, Lai Vung Spring Rolls, Sa Giang Shrimp Puff Pastry, Lai Vung Tangerine…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Bac Lieu: Spicy Beef Noodle Soup, Bac Lieu’s Three-striped Crab, White Radish Pies, Bac Lieu Thick Noodles & Creamy Coconut Milk, Bon Bon Pickles…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Ca Mau: Banh tam ga cay (Silkworm rice cake with curried chicken), Grilled Vop clams with salt and pepper, Grilled Mudskipper Fish, Stone Crab Roast With Salt, Young Bee Salad, Nam Can’s Crab, U Minh Forest’s Honey, U Minh’s Fermented Fish Hotpot…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Hau Giang: Cau Duc Pineapple, Cai Tac’s Pork Organs Porridge, Hau Giang’s Bronze Featherback Fish Cake…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Ha Tien: Herring Fish Salad, Spider crab cake soup, Ken Noodle soup, Xoi Xiem (Siamese sticky rice), Steamed Noodle soup, Ha Tien Oyster porridge…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Rach Gia: Stir Noodle Soup, Kien Giang Fish Noodle Soup…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Con Dao: Bang nut jam, Vu Nang Snail, Roasted Pork Bread (Banh Mi), Coconut Ice Cream…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Phu Quoc: Phu Quoc Sim Wine, Phu Quoc Pepper, Phu Quoc fish sauce…
Hopefully, the above tips will help you to come up with a great plan for your adventure in Mekong River Delta, Vietnam. Have a safe trip!
“Sleep less, travel more, respect more” – Thomas Vietnam – Local travel expert.
Thank you
