19 November 2015

Supermarkets of mystery - Korean ice creams

Korean ice creams, creamy milk confections encased in wafer coatings or twists of fruit ice are one of our favourite ways to end a food court meal outing or just about any meal. When the weather heats up to scorchio, seek them out.


There's something about the way Korean ice cream tastes. Frozen and imported, these cold treats are often something savoury made into something sweet. It's a dessert flavour we've come to love, from pumpkin served with salty coconut milk custard in Thailand to the bean and corn filled ice treats of Malaysia.

The Koreans grab the whole savoury sweetie thing and pack it into ice cream, often encased in a thin wafer that helps stop the drippage on a hot humid Sydney day. We've been trying out a range over the hot months, but we've been known to scoff one or two even on a cold day.


First up, lets jump head first into corn flavoured ice cream. Lotte Sweet Corn Ice cream Sandwich, about $2.20 from Harmony Mart on Quay Street Haymarket. 


There's no doubting what the shape of this ice cream is promising.


On the inside, the ice cream has a real corn flavour, a little like a toned down creamed corn. Inside of the wafer has a coating of chocolate, so when you bite into the shell you get a choco corn mix that is really something.


Lotte Screw Strawberry and Apple flavour ice block, from Harmony Mart. Popular with The Freak at Wentworth Detention centre.


The ice block is a twisted shape (the 'screw') making it easy to eat. When you bite into the red block, the inside is reveals a pale apple flavoured centre. Don't eat before you need to go for a meeting with your boss and worry the whole time you have a bright red tongue.


This one had no indication of what might have been inside except for the picture in the corner, and that wasn't all that helpful.


Not a very large ice cream, but the caramel colouring looked promising.


Biting inside, the coating was crunchy and gave way to vanilla ice cream, but at the centre was a type of rice pudding that was delicious. About $1.80 from Harmony Mart.


Simona Red bean ice cream with rice dumplings, $1.95 from Miracle Supermarket, World Square.


I took this photo with the Korean script upside down. The ice cream is a good size, not too big.


Inside is a mix of sweet red bean jam layered between the waffles and tiny rice dumplings mixed into creamy milk ice cream. The rice dumplings are small spheres of globby texture, they don't add much flavour but pack in some interest. The wafer squishes down a little so you don't get a shirtfront full of dripped icecream when you bite down, great thinking ice cream design team.


This ice cream screamed and danced and begged to bought when I saw it the first time in the freezer section at Miracle Supermarket in Newtown. The guy at the check out even admitted he had to try this one, it looked so unusual.


Lotte Cotton Cake turns out to be a kind of fluffy sweet sponge, filled with a layer of cookies and cream ice cream. The feeling when you bit in was slightly strange, the light cake didn't feel like it was going to stand up to the harder creamy inside, but it worked.


After so many creamy ice creams it was time to get some fruit on. On a hot day a watermelon ice cream looked like it was going to be a hit.


In fact, it was more than a hit, it was a super hit right out of the ballpark. The watermelon ice cream was lightly sweet, and the 'seeds' were tiny little pieces of coated nuts. When you got to the green 'rind' section, the ice cream got fruity and lime flavoured. Winner. At only $1.40 from Miracle in Newtown, this one is on the walking home must have list.


The Melona fish has always been a favourite, but this mini version by Binggrae was a great substitute. At only $1.80 it's also easy on the wallet.


Inside is just like a bungeoppang or taiyaki waffle, except this version has ice cream as well as red bean paste.


It took a couple of bites to get to the read bean jam, but when the ice cream is good that's not such a problem.

Harmony Mart is at 16-18 Quay Street, Haymarket. The ice cream fridge is by the front door as you walk in, on your right.

Miracle Supermarket is at 680 George Street in World Square. Walk to the very back of the store for a huge range of Korean and Japanese frozen treats.

Miracle Supermarket Newtown is at Shop 2, 46-56 King Street, Newtown.

6 comments:

  1. Brilliant, thanks for the post. I hope Miracle Supermarket at Marrickville Metro has something similar.

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    1. I believe Miracle at Marrickville have boxes of ice creams, I don't know if they sell them individually.

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  2. They all look so good, I want some foreign ice cream/lollies right now!

    Lucy
    www.lucylovestoeat.com

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  3. You didn't get the best one. Melona, honeydew melon ice block is the best Korean ice cream. When I was in Korea I saw it everywhere. It's chewy and more melony than a melon, love it so much.

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    1. There's always another one to try, isn't there! I've eaten a few of the ice ones, they are really great. I wonder if it is here?

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  4. That Sweet Corn Ice Cream Sandwich is my absolute favorite. $10 for 5 of them at H-Mart, and worth every penny.

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Thanks for your comment joy - please keep your musings happy - if you want to complain about a restaurant please do it on a restaurant review site (or your own blog) - we're all about celebrating cultural diversity and the great eats that come along with it :-)

Our ethics: We pay for all our own meals and travel (though sometimes Mum shouts us).