Street hawker in China cooks fried rice with ice cream, tops it off with rainbow sprinkles

Fried rice cooked with ice cream & crabs costs just S$1.66 in China

While fried rice and ice cream, eaten by themselves, are the ultimate comfort food for many, it’s uncertain whether they’ll be so appealing when combined.

People in China would know, however, as a street hawker there apparently cooks fried rice with ice cream, topping it off with rainbow sprinkles to boot.

Ice cream fried rice found at night market in China

The dish was discovered by a YouTube channel named “Foodie” (美食家), which posts videos of food being prepared across China.

A recent clip on 20 July saw them visit a street hawker in Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province.

From the words on his apron, it’s evident that he works in the city’s popular Yangfan Night Market (扬帆夜市), which has about 360 stalls, according to Hunan Today.

Video shows how to cook ice cream fried rice

The 54-second-long video serves as a tutorial of sorts on how to cook the dish, which costs just 9 Chinese yuan (S$1.66).

Firstly, the hawker throws a popsicle directly into the wok.

He then moves it around, letting it melt.

When asked what that familiar smell was, he replied that the ice cream was coffee-flavoured. “Bitter coffee,” he added.

Once the ice cream had mostly melted, the hawker added several miniature crabs, to the customer’s surprise. It’s a “new way of eating”, he proclaimed.

He then added a few pieces of shredded ginger “to dispel the cold”, he said.

After that, he added red and green chillies, presumably for the spicy kick.

Finally, he added white rice, frying all the ingredients together.

Asked what the mouthfeel would be like, he responded that it would be “nine heavens of ice and fire”.

As the hawker shook the wok vigorously, he claimed he grew the rice himself, so each grain is distinct.

He also said he grew the chillies and reared the crabs, too.

But when the surprised customer asked him where he reared the crabs, he replied stupefyingly, “in the river”, adding, “his mother’s river”.

Dish topped off with rainbow sprinkles

Soon, the fried rice was ready and the hawker spooned it into a takeaway box.

Before handing it over, however, he applied one last finishing touch on top: Rainbow sprinkles.

The colourful confection appeared to lend the dish a dash of sugar and whimsy.

The customer quipped that he’d “learnt something new” that day.

Unfortunately, the video didn’t include a review of how the fried rice tasted, so curious viewers would probably have to head to China to find out.

Also read: S’pore TikToker Makes Milo Fried Rice & Maggi, Viewers Tag Uncle Roger For Help

Are you keen on trying this? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Featured image adapted from 美食家 on YouTube.