Mango Namplawan Ice Cream: Only in Thailand

Green mango sorbet ice cream with Thai-style sweet and spicy fermented fish and fruit dipping sauce, fried red onions, and crispy dried shrimp

I tried something new this week. A brand-new type of ice cream that I had seen advertised by Swensen's and never felt like trying. This week, however, they were offering a buy-1-get-1 deal, so I decided to go for it. 

This is namplawan ice cream!

Overall, I find Thai food to be absolutely exquisite. I love nearly everything, but namplawan is one of the few dishes in Thailand that I really don't like. It's a type of dipping sauce made of fermented fruit and fish, and usually it's served with super young sour mango. The questions that I've been asking for years and years is why on earth would anyone ruin a perfectly good slice of mango by dipping it into rotten fish? The answer eludes me.

But I knew that I couldn't pass up the chance to try and write about this odd combination when I first saw it in ice cream form. Today I was at the supermarket and passed by the Swensen's ice cream parlor. Finally, curiosity got the best of me, and I ordered it.

The dish came with two big scoops of sour green mango sorbet topped with crispy fried onions. It also came with a shot glass with namplawan sauce and another with a trio of crispy dried shrimp.

To be honest, this is exactly what I expected. It's weird, and tastes just like the namplawan of which I am absolutely not a fan. Sometimes weird is good. In this case... maybe not so much. I gave my fiancee the shrimp (they were good, but not with ice cream) and pushed much of the namplawan and fried onions to the side. The ice cream itself was great, but I would have enjoyed it better by itself. It was very sweet and very sour, just how I like it! 

It's a very odd Thai taste. Maybe someone would really love it, but for me, it's more of a novelty. Anyway, I never regret trying something new. I've always tried to avoid being a picky eater, and even if I don't like something, I'm usually willing to be adventurous and give it a try. I'm glad I finally got the chance to taste it, even if it's not for me.