Frozen: Fried(?) ice cream in Chinatown
Many are cold. Few are Frozen.
May and Andy Chen of Northeast Philadelphia have taken a dip into the hand-made ice cream craze now rocking the region.
Tuesday, June 28 was the debut of Frozen, their shop at the southeast corner of 10th and Arch Streets (215-457-5118). Though the sign proclaims "fried ice cream," don't expect deep-fryers and cookie-crumb crusts.
It's what we now know popularly as Thai rolled ice cream, the signature product at such shops as Ice Land in Chinatown, Sweet Charlie's in Washington Square, and 1°C Iceland in Oreland. South Street is getting a shop: Ice Max, at 252 South St. Some shops offer variations of the customizable dessert, including snow ice.
At Frozen, workers pour cream and flavoring on a super-chilled metal platter and spread the mixture until it partly solidifies. Then they spread it out and scrape it up into rolls before adding it to a cup with toppings.
The whole show takes about five minutes.
Flavor has five platters - more than other shops I've encountered - so the wait, in theory, should be shorter. (Sweet Charlie's has an almost constant line along Walnut Street.)
Among the selections are strawberry with strawberries and graham cracker; s'mores; snickerdoodle; and Oreo cookie. Price is $7, tax included, for an ice cream with three toppings.
The Chens, who owned a butcher shop in the Northeast and a restaurant in Maryland, said they saw a now-viral video of Thai ice cream. They bought one machine and spent six months practicing on it before opening.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday.