Potong ice-cream - A local street ice-cream sandwich

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A squarish-shaped potong ice-cream held together with wafer biscuits or sandwiched inside a slice of coloured bread depending on your preference. And it's only a dollar and fifty cents at most. Licking the yummy icy cold ice-cream is great in our hot and humid weather.

You can find the portable or mobile potong ice-cream vendors (mostly middle-age or elderly uncles and aunties) in their modified motorcycles complete with box freezers at parks, beaches, pasar malam (night markets), outside MRT stations, along Singapore River, at the Esplanade, even along Orchard Road. They will usually find a shade under a tree or put up a big umbrella for shade. These ice-cream vendors can also be found outside industrial offices or estates so office workers can also enjoy this cooling dessert that can be enjoyed during their lunch-hour! Thus, enjoying ice-cream need not be an expensive affair and can be enjoyed while you are strolling in the park or working.

Potong ice-cream
Potong ice-cream with wafer biscuits
The ice-cream vendors will carry many flavours of ice-cream. My favourite potong ice-cream flavour is yam with black beans, as can be seen in the photo. Other popular flavours include red beans, mint, chocolate chips, vanilla, strawberry and of course an all-time local favourite, durian!

There are many other flavours including tropical fruits' flavours such as mango and corn. By the way, potong is a Malay word for 'cut'. Because the ice-cream is cut from bigger blocks of ice-cream into a squarish shape piece. A simple, yet cooling and very affordable fun dessert! Ice-cream vendors tend to sell bottled drinks and can drinks as well, great when you are out and about and looking something to cool you down other than ice-cream.

A street potong ice-cream vendor
So, the next time you are at upmarket Orchard Road, at the artsy Victoria Theatre, outside Bugis market, at Changi Beach, or outside neighbourhood malls or MRT stations, look out for the aunties or uncles selling potong ice-cream on their classic looking motorbike adapted for selling ice-cream complete with coolers. They used to be right at the heartlands near housing and development board flats, but their sight is getting rarer by the day.

Some may find the potong ice-cream lacking in creativity as compared to Thai roll ice-cream or the Turkish ice-cream where you have to wait forever for them to roll or give out their ice-cream, but hey we are practical people and we can't forever be waiting in lines under the hot sun. The boxy looking potong ice-cream is fast, cheap and more importantly tasty, cooling and delicious! In Singapore tropical heat, the ice-cream melts pretty fast. A simple, squarish, quick cooling dessert by the street is all we need.

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