I recently took a trip to Thailand where inspiration for flavors and adventures are around each and every corner and usually in unexpected places. The more I explored, the further I travelled, I became pleasantly lost in a country of spices, flavors, curiosities and wonderfully warm people. I took a cooking class from Thai Charm Cooking School, ate homemade spiced chicken and rice on remote islands with Phi Phi Dive Club, bartered for Spices with Joy at the Damnoen Floating Market, drank ginger rum with a french man who made the best American burgers, ate “Angry Birds” sushi, dined at the finest of street food stalls for $3.00 a meal, perused local farmers markets for local fruits and fried whole chickens, and downed my weight in Pad Thai. The flavors and adventures plus birthday present in the form of an ice cream maker inspired me to make “Thai” Ice Cream once I returned home.

Here are the recipes for my Paleo ice cream. Most use a base of Coconut Whole Fat Milk, which you can find in the Asian section of a grocery store and Coconut Creme, which you can find at an Asian specialty stores, Trader Joe’s, or Amazon. Because Amazon has everything. Except Angry Birds sushi.

Ginger Rum Paleo Ice Cream

This Ginger Rum ice cream was inspired by a French man, living in Thailand, who served the most amazing American Meals. I spent my birthday evening there, where we celebrated with newfound friends with burgers, cigars, and the most delicious ginger-infused rum. The rum was made by adding ginger slices and sugar to a bottle of rum and patiently turning the rum bottle on its side for 6 months at a time. Fortunately, this Ice Cream can be made in about 3-4 hours and requires much less patience than ginger rum. Before you start, remember to put your ice cream bowl from your ice cream maker or Kitchen Aid attachment in the freezer overnight to fully freeze!

Ingredients
1c             Rum (yes, this much – you’re going to burn it off)
2c             full fat coconut milk
1/2 inch   ginger root, cut into small slices
2 tsp         salt
1/2c          brown sugar
1 tbs         vanilla extract

In a small sauce pan over medium high heat, bring rum to a boil. Reduce to simmer and let sit until the alcohol burns off. You’ll know the alcohol is burned off when you take a deep sniff and your nose does NOT have that “omg, alcohol!” reaction. Add all remaining ingredients. Simmer over low heat until the ginger flavor is as strong as you like it. The longer you simmer, the stronger it gets. I simmered about 20 minutes. Remove ginger and cool the ingredients in the refrigerator (overnight) or in the freezer (about 1 hour). If the ingredients aren’t cool, they will NOT set in your ice cream maker.

Using your ice cream maker instructions, churn the ingredients until delicious, frozen, and creamy!

Mango “Sticky Rice” Ice Cream

Mango sticky rice is a popular and incredibly delicious dessert from Thailand. This recipe is not Paleo, because condensed & evaporated milk are used in several Thai dishes. In fact, they like these ingredients so much that they are sold in little stands on the side of the road. This recipe uses condensed milk, and it’s worth cheating on any diet for it! 

Ingredients
2            ripe mangoes
1 1/2 c   coconut full fat milk
1 1/2 c   sweetened condensed milk
1 tbs      vanilla extract
2 tsp      salt
1/2c       brown sugar
raw coconut flakes (I used unsweetened from the health food store)

Peel the mangoes, chop and puree until corse. Add all ingredients except for the raw coconut flakes into a saucepan over medium-low heat. Let simmer for about 5-10 minutes until all flavors meld. At this point, you can adjust salt and sugar to taste. Cool the ingredients in the refrigerator (overnight) or in the freezer (about 1 hour). If the ingredients aren’t cool, they will NOT set in your ice cream maker.

While ice cream base is cooling, toast raw coconut flakes in a 350 degree oven for 5-10 minutes until slightly brown. WATCH the coconut carefully. It goes from brown to black in an instant. I know this because I did this. First batch thrown out, second batch watched much more closely!

Using your ice cream maker instructions, churn the ingredients until delicious, frozen, and creamy. Top with toasted coconut flakes.

Irish Coffee Paleo Ice Cream

Irish Coffees are not what you’d think of when you think of Thailand. But it reminds me of an evening watching World Cup games at midnight at an Irish Bar, who claimed to serve the best Irish Coffees in all of Thailand. I’m not sure the competition was stiff for this challenge, but I am sure that the Irish Coffees were delicious and left a warm memory from Thailand. 

Ingredients
1c          whiskey
1 1/2c    full fat coconut milk
1 1/2c    coconut creme
3 tbs      coffee grounds
1/2c       brown sugar
2 tsp      salt
1 tbs      vanilla extract

In a small sauce pan over medium high heat, bring whiskey to a boil. Reduce to simmer and let sit until the alcohol burns off. You’ll know the alcohol is burned off when you take a deep sniff and your nose does NOT have that “omg, alcohol!” reaction. Add all remaining ingredients. Simmer over low heat until the coffee flavor is as strong as you like it. The longer you simmer, the stronger it gets. I simmered about 20 minutes. At this point, you can adjust salt and sugar. Strain the mixture through cheesecloth to remove coffee grounds as they can become bitter. Cool the ingredients in the refrigerator (overnight) or in the freezer (about 1 hour). If the ingredients aren’t cool, they will NOT set in your ice cream maker.

Using your ice cream maker instructions, churn the ingredients until delicious, frozen, and creamy!

Hope you enjoy the Thai-flavored ice creams and let me know if you have questions, comments, or ever want a buddy to travel with in Thailand!