Chill Out
THE SINGAPORE SUN is high in the afternoon sky, the heavy air sticky with humidity. I, however, am unfazed. I’m standing in the shaded comfortof ABCBrickworks, oneofSingapore’soldesthawkercenters, waiting patiently in line at the Jin Jin Dessert stall. And any moment now, I’ll be savoring the sweet, sweet chill of ice kachang.
As the line creeps forward, I watch as local office workers—women in skirts and heels, men in short-sleeved shirts and pressed pants—return to their tables holding towers of shaved ice on a bed of beans (kachang means “bean” in Malay) and smothered in fruit, jellies, and neon-colored syrups. Many chilled and frozen desserts are available in this relentlessly hot island nation located one degree north of the equator. But ice kachang—which dates to the mid–20th century—holds a special place in the heart of Singaporeans young
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