Mmm, ice cream. When the creamy, cool dessert comes to mind, what flavors sound best? A sweet scoop of vanilla? A hefty chunk of chocolate? What about a big spoonful of Bratwursts and Mustard ice cream? Not exactly what you imagined, but this summer Salt & Straw are making Street Food Ice Cream a reality.
Portland’s beloved ice cream shop Salt & Straw opened a Los Angeles location and quickly established itself as one of the premier ice cream shops in Southern California. With summer coming, people will be hitting the streets in search of great street food and most likely heading for ice cream shops afterwards to beat the heat. Salt & Straw decided to combine the two, and this summer they came up with a series of ice cream flavors inspired by street food.
Collaborating with some of LA’s best local chefs, the ice cream flavors are interesting to say the least. While combinations like molé or tamales in sweets may sound strange, the flavors work together to create desserts that are uniquely LA.
For those dessert lovers with an adventurous palate, the special summer menu runs through July 2nd. Hurry up, before all that Peking duck ice cream is gone.
Papi’s Korean Fluffernutter ice cream
Chef Roy Choi who is known for creating the hybrid Korean Taco, Kogi, put street food on the map. His flavor surprisingly had no taco-like influences but instead he came up with a flavor inspired by the boiled Asian peanuts he ate as a kid. A peanut butter based ice cream combined with spiced fruit and marshmallow became Papi’s Korean Fluffernutter.
Molé Rojo Flan ice cream
Restaurante Guelaguetza’s molé rojo is made with over fifty different ingredients. The Mole Rojo Flan ice cream base is made with ancho chilies, cinnamon, and Mexican vanilla with the added touch of a flan made out of that very same famous spicy red molé.
Green Corn Tamales ice cream
Chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger are a major part of creating the LA food scene and their creation is an homage to their signature dish Green Corn Tamales, but in ice cream form. Corn ice cream is an old concept but this spin adds their distinct flavors which make this dessert unique.
Bratwursts and Mustard ice cream
Wurstküche has the sausage game down in LA, selling some of the best brats in SoCal. But sausages in ice cream? Interesting. Chunks of nutmeg-and-coriander-laced sausage with a honey-mustard caramel sauce swirled into every bite make up Bratwursts and Mustard ice cream.
Peking Duck Buns ice cream
Los Angeles has some of the best Chinese food outside of China and this creamy concoction is an homage to the savory Asian buns. The ice cream base is a five-spiced plum sauce with “crispy duck skin†candy brittle and cucumber gummy chews.
What street food would you like to see turned into a unique ice cream flavor? Let us know in the comments!
*all photos via saltandstraw.com
