GEORGE TOWN, May 4 — On a blazing hot day, nothing hits the spot quite like a bowl of finely shaved ice generously covered in syrup and garnished with an assortment of toppings.

Yes, the quintessential Malaysian dessert to cool parched throats and sweeten the day is ais kacang which literally means ice and beans.

As its name suggests, the sweet, cold concoction must have these two main ingredients — ice and cooked, sweetened red beans. Otherwise, it is not ais kacang.

It is a common dessert found at roadside stalls, hawker centres and restaurants throughout the country but in Penang, it has its very own signature.

The traditional Penang ais kacang is made up of a snowy ball of finely shaved ice placed in a bowl over which is poured rose syrup (a sweet red syrup) and evaporated milk.

Then comes the toppings that are a must in any Penang ais kacang: cooked red beans, creamed corn and attap chee (nipah palm seeds or nypa fruticans).

These are usually spooned in dollops over the syrupy ice with the attap chee taking centre stage and the whole colourful concoction is then served.

To enjoy the cool icy sweetness of the dessert, it is important to dig right in and mix it all together so that the condiments and toppings are all evenly mixed into the ice to give it a unique mix of tastes.

The creamed corn gives the mostly sweet mixture a savoury flavour while the evaporated milk adds a tad of richness to it all.

This is why the ais kacang is also called the ABC — Ais Batu Campur (mixed shaved ice) denoting the mixture of ingredients and toppings.

The modern day Penang ais kacang has evolved to follow the times as hawkers experiment with different ingredients and toppings.

Some stalls use condensed milk in place of the evaporated milk while some add other syrups such as Sarsi-flavoured and gula Melaka (palm sugar) syrups.

As for toppings, we can now find multi-coloured jelly cubes, grass jelly cubes, roasted peanuts and dried nutmeg slivers.

Some stalls offer the option for customers to add an assortment of sliced fruits from jackfruit to mangoes and naturally, a scoop or two of vanilla ice-cream.

In one old coffee shop in Penang, Kek Seng Coffee Shop, they serve up Ais Kacang Special which can’t be found anywhere else.

They serve the ais kacang with the usual toppings but the difference is it comes with a multi-coloured jelly and a choice of two scoops of different flavoured ice-cream or their homemade durian ice-cream.

The balmy weather in Malaysia makes it a perfect time to have an ais kacang any day of the year, so if you come across an ais kacang stall, try it out for a sweet cool treat.

Here are 10 places in Penang where you can find good ais kacang, either served the traditional way or with modern modifications:

1. Kek Seng Coffee Shop
GPS: 5.416246,100.329364
Time: 9am-5pm

2. Astaka Selera Stadium, Jalan Perak
GPS: 5.411314,100.315862
Time: 6pm-11pm

3. Penang Road Famous Ais Kacang stall, Lebuh Keng Kwee
GPS: 5.417167,100.330651
Time: 11am-7pm

4. Padang Brown Medan Selera
GPS: 5.414438,100.31657
Time: 12pm-10pm

5. New World Park food court, Swatow Lane
GPS: 5.421156,100.326837
Time: 11am-6pm

6. Jalan Mount Erskine
GPS: 5.451067,100.302075
Time: 11am-5pm

7.Kedai Kopi dan Ice Kacang, Lorong Selamat
GPS: 5.41811,100.325507
Time: 11am-5pm

8.Jalan Atas, Nibong Tebal
GPS: 5.166242,100.476692
Time: 11am-5pm

9. Jalan Kurau, Seberang Jaya
GPS: 5.383577,100.392192
Time: 11am-5pm

10.Jalan Pekan Darat, Butterworth
GPS: 5.450939,100.401974
Time: 11am-6pm