Thursday, March 24, 2016

Nutmeg yes or no?

We ordered the Signature Dish at Sepiring (not shown here) again and a bowl of ABC.

ABC stands for Air Batu Campur which means Mixed Ice. This bowl of ABC - MYR6.90 nett is so colourful with yellow raisins; red bean; yellow, black, red, green jelly; peanuts; attap chee (nipa palm fruit) and even dried candied nutmeg strips. My friend complained that it has too many items in it and does not taste like the ABC that she was used to and she did not like the nutmeg in it at all. Would you prefer to have nutmeg in your bowl of ABC or not? I believe this is Penang style ABC due to the nutmeg in it.

Side view.

36 comments:

  1. I'm more an ang tao peng guy, ok with cendol thrown in - not a fan of ABC. Nutmeg? Buah pala - the oil they use to make that massage ointment? No, thank you. I don't like the pickles either.

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    1. Yes, nutmeg as in buah pala - the same one that they use to make massage ointment. So you don't like to eat this fruit in any form or in any dishes.

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  2. Replies
    1. ABC is also known as ice kacang here too.

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  3. I only like a few stuff in my ABC - jagung, red bean, atapchi, lots of rose syrup & evaporated milk..

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    1. And no, I don't like nutmeg.. So I won't want it in my ABC.. I only want lots of atapchis (the white chewy thingy)..

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    2. Yes, I like to eat the attap chees too but not all ABCs have attap chees in them.

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  4. I like nutmeg but have never tried any ABC that comes with nutmeg, though I won't think I would like that..

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    1. Since you like nutmeg, why don't you think you will like them in your ABC?

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  5. Tried ABC with nutmeg but prefer not to have them.

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  6. Don't think I have seen nutmeg in ABC in Penang. Yeah they like their nutmeg, but in other ways...

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    1. I fully agree that Penang's original style does not include nutmeg. If I am not mistaken, I started tasting it when I was a kid. It was in Kedah and I found it funny. Since then, I encountered this sliced nutmegs even in KL but I cannot remember where.

      Later years, I ate some similar crushed ice desserts in Thailand and Taiwan where they added so much ingredients. I am sure the Malaysian vendors caught on with this trend from there.

      Penang's fruit rojak always added nutmeg and even squids inside!

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    2. I have eaten ABCs in Penang with nutmeg but still have not eaten any nutmeg in Penang's fruit rojak.

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  7. So ABC means Air Batu Campur.. hahaha.. how about the ABC soup we boil at home... anyway, I love ABC anytime!

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    1. I have no idea why lo song tong is called ABC soup. :)

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  8. Oh, so the Malay version is Air Batu Campur. I always call it Ice Kacang. I don't think I like nutmeg slices in my ice kacang.

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    1. Here, the stalls use ABC and Ice Kacang interchangeably.

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  9. Wah, so colourful! Don't think I've added nutmeg before.... Love to try! xoxo

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    1. The nutmeg was in this ABC by default. :)

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  10. I rarely eat ABC, so I've not seen candied nutmeg in it before.

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    1. So you don't like to eat shaved ice?

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    2. Oh, I like to eat shaved ice...like in cendol (I ask for 50% less gula melaka), just not ABC which I find is usually very sweet.

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    3. You can also ask for 50% less syrup for ABC too.

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  11. I prefer only a few core ingredients in my ABC - red bean, corns, rose syrup, some atapchi and minimal cendol. And it must hav lotsa ice to cover up the sweetness. The lesser ingredient the better so that it dun get 'overcrowded' with so much flavour like eating 'ice rojak'.

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    1. Your choices sound good. I like lots of shaved ice too!

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  12. I don't mind nutmeg in ABC, but I don't like so many colors, I like only brown sugar only.

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  13. I prefer without nutmeg because I am not too fond of it.

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    1. I guess not many people are but why do they still put nutmeg is beyond me.

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  14. Nice to eat under the hot weather like now!!

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  15. There's never too many things in ABC! :D

    Haha! That's what I think anyway. I don't like peanuts inside though, ruins the texture. Crushed peanuts is okay, not whole ones. It's perfect for the hot weather!

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    1. Aha, so you don't like whole peanuts in your ABCs. :)

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  16. Never had nutmeg in ABC before! I understand your friend's complaint though - it would affect the taste since nutmeg is pretty strong.

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