I have been on a fifteen year mission to find the best fried ice cream served in a restaurant. This self-appointed task has been somewhat hampered by the fact that my husband doesn’t really care for Mexican food and Mexican restaurants are where fried ice cream is generally served (although I’ve read that fried ice cream is really of Chinese origin and is served at many international restaurants) and we now live in a small town in central Kentucky which severely limits my restaurant options. I just count these things as a small obstacle on my road to obesity success.
This dish seems to have many variations and although most recipes I’ve found call for vanilla ice cream, the ice cream flavor can differ. The coating options are varied also: crushed corn flakes, sponge cake(!), tortillas, cookies, etc. Sometimes I’ve ordered fried ice cream and what I get hasn’t even been fried — it’s just a scoop of ice cream rolled in something crunchy (obviously a complete misnomer which is bizarre to me — why called it “fried” if it isn’t??).
So far, my favorite is back in my hometown of Seattle at a restaurant called the Beso del Sol on the corner of N. 45th and Stone Way. From what I recall, a large scoop of vanilla ice cream is coated in crushed tortilla chips and fried. What makes it so fabulous is the chocolate sauce that is served with the ice cream. It’s not that nasty stuff you find in a squeeze bottle. The sauce is thick and somewhat grainy, most likely made from Mexican table chocolate. The chocolate has a mellow flavor with just a hint of cinnamon. The sauce may even be champurrado which is a chocolate Mexican drink thickened with corn masa. I guess the next time I’m in the Emerald City I’ll have to go back to Beso del Sol to reaquaint myself.
If the fried ice cream at Beso del Sol is so wonderful, it just makes me think that someone else might have something just as good and not be located two thousand miles away from me. I’ve got to find it, or at least I’ve got try. Wish me luck.
The best Fried Ice Cream I have had was at a Japanese restaurant named Ichigo’s near the Cannery in San Francisco. It was in the late Seventies, and I believe the restaurant has moved. Anyway, it was vinalla or stawberry ice cream wrapped in thin dough (won-ton, maybe?) and quickly fried to a light golden brown, then served with a thin strawberry jam. It was before I had Mexican fried Ice Ceam and I think it was much better.
Max
I have some friends moving to San Francisco so I’ll have to ask them to check it out.
I did just visit Seattle and went back to Beso del Sol to see if they still were number one in my book. That Mexican chocolate sauce is still amazing.