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shop in King’s Arcade. “Take one of our most popular Singaporeans eat guava and other cut fruit – by dip-
flavours Pulut Hitam for example – we have a guy ping it into sour plum powder.
who chops cartons of coconuts everyday just to get I ended up picking Kwek’s other personal fa-
the fresh coconut water, and we boil the black gluti- vourite flavour to try: the citrusy and refreshing Gam
nous rice in our kitchens and make it from scratch.” Xia, a play on the Cantonese name for Mandarin
While deciding on some flavours to taste for Orange and the phrase for ‘thank you’. I was surprised
this article, Kwok recommended Teh Tarik, the pulled by the bits of chewy dried orange peel in every bite,
tea drink you can find in just about any coffee shop reminiscent of a local snack I ate as a child.
in Singapore. “It’s one of the flavours that needs a lot
of work to prepare as we need to steep and extract
the tea before we churn the ice cream,” I found the
tea taste quite well-balanced and not overly bitter or
acidic, and bought a pint to take home with me.

Uniquely Singaporean memories:
The Humble Scoop

In the 17 years since Island Creamery’s launch,
the artisanal ice cream scene has grown significantly,
with numerous new shops popping up all around
Singapore. Many have their own unique spin on in-
gredients and concepts that have earned them loyal
followings, but The Humble Scoop has some of the
most nostalgic and inspired flavours.
Photo / Singapore Tourism Board
Opened by Yvonne Kwek in 2018 in the base-
ment of the aging Katong Shopping Centre, every
flavour in The Humble Scoop is inspired by a person-
al memory Kwek had of growing up in Singapore. “I
People who really wanted local flavours headed Island Creamery made waves when it opened in
read an article once of a chef saying that Singapore
to the hawker centres instead to enjoy an array of cold 2003 because it took flavours Singaporeans knew and
doesn’t have its own unique flavours since our local
and hot desserts: ice kachang with a pile of shaved ice loved from local drinks and desserts and transformed
food actually comes from all over the world and then
atop red beans and jelly bits, a warm bowl of black them into ice cream, which no other shop at that time
adapted to suit our tastes. I realised that what truly
glutinous rice porridge better known as Pulut Hitam, was known for doing. They would become known for
belongs to Singaporeans are the memories we had of
or the ever-popular Chendol with its strands of green signature flavours like Chendol, malted drink Hor-
living and growing up in Singapore, so I wanted my
jelly atop a mix of shaved ice, coconut milk and palm licks, Tiger sorbet made from Tiger Beer, and Pine-
ice creams to resonate with those memories and make
sugar or gula melaka. In short, ice cream and Singapor- apple Tart, inspired by the popular pastry eaten during
people remember the happiness they felt then.”
ean desserts were separate entities. Chinese New Year.
The memories behind The Humble Scoop ice
Founder Stanley Kwok explained that to stand cream flavours are detailed on their website, but I
Starting fresh: Island Creamery out from the household brands, Island Creamery
could easily relate to many of the flavours and names
focuses on producing premium ice cream with an
in their shop. Kopi-C Siu Dai is a drink more com-
The diversity and variety of ice cream flavours emphasis on fresh ingredients, a tradition that con-
monly heard yelled out in the local coffee shops, a
in Singapore really started to grow in the early 2000s tinues even till today. “You can’t keep our ice cream
coffee brew consisting of sugar, evaporated milk and
thanks to the opening of artisanal ice cream shops in the freezer for too long. We make our ice cream
less condensed milk. One of Kwek’s personal favou-
with enterprising ice cream makers looking to differ- fresh here, every day,” said Kwok, gesturing at the
rites is the Guava Sourplum sorbet, which brings to
entiate themselves from mass production brands. bustling kitchen behind the ice cream counter at their
mind one of the unusual ways her family and other
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