PETALING JAYA: Imagine having a popsicle on a hot Sunday afternoon. While you're trying to cool yourself down, that icy treat is melting all over your hand.
If only you had melt-resistant ice cream to enjoy. Speaking about melt-resistant ice cream, is it true that this cool dessert was found by accident?
VERDICT:
TRUE
Melt-resistant dessert was an accidental discovery by the Biotherapy Development Research Centre in Kanazawa, Japan, in 2017. The scientists were looking at ways to make use of surplus strawberries that had been damaged in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
They were trying to create a new dessert using polyphenol extracted from strawberries and had enlisted the help of a pastry chef in Miyagi Prefecture.
During this process, the pastry chef complained that the cream would solidify and remain frozen when the polyphenol liquid was added to it.
Surprised by this, the scientists investigated the unexpected effect and discovered that the polyphenol was acting as an emulsifier, making it difficult for the water and oil components of the cream to separate, which in turn prevented the ice cream from melting quickly.
Tomihisa Ota, professor emeritus of pharmacy at Kanazawa University, told Asahi Shimbun: "Polyphenol liquid has properties to make it difficult for water and oil to separate, so that a popsicle containing it will be able to retain the original shape of the cream for a longer time than usual and be hard to melt."
This 'happy accident' led to the development and sale of the slow-to-melt popsicles, known as "Kanazawa Ice," which can retain their shape for up to an hour at room temperature.
The popsicles went on sale in Kanazawa, Osaka, and Tokyo in April of the same year.
Meanwhile, Rocket News made a video recording of the dessert and confirmed that the ice cream kept its shape despite being left out at room temperature space after three hours.
While we may not see Kanazawa Ice in our local markets anytime soon, perhaps a bowl of ice kacang or chendul will suffice to enjoy on a hot weekend.
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