Your typical Korean corner store ice-cream freezer!
Korean summers = hot and humid = perfect excuse to eat an ice-cream or popsicle everyday!
Do you ever go to the local corner store to get a cool treat, stare inside of the freezer over-whelmed and confused by all the choices!? Do you ever wonder whether to get the same one you always get, or risk trying a new flavour without really knowing what you'll get!? Well, I did!
So...I decided to try each kind I could find to show you:
1) The package 2) The whole ice-cream and 3) The ice-cream with a bite taken in it to see the inside!
By no means is this list complete - I can only eat so many at a time...let me know if you want to help out! I'll buy you an ice-cream in advance...just take your pick of any that aren't already below! In "sort of" particular order...the first 10 are some of my top preferences!
왕수박 (Whang Soo Bak) = King Watermelon
A delicious watermelon flavoured slightly milky ice with bits of chocolate covered nuts (almonds?) representing watermelon seeds. Looks like a watermelon slice, tastes like a watermelon slice!
보석바 (Bo Suk Ba) = Jewel Ice Bar
A slightly milky ice with pieces of harder fruit flavoured ice scattered inside like bits of jewels. The mix of textures make a delicious contrast as the bits are very hard and fruity in the softer milky smooth ice!
찰옥수수 (Chal Ok SooSoo) = Corn Ice-cream
I know this sounds gross. I know Koreans like to put corn on everything including pizza....but this ice-cream is one of my favourites!!! There are literally chewy pieces of corn throughout the corn flavoured ice-cream and it is delicious! The corn shaped cone has a super thin layer of chocolate in between and it makes for an amazing combination! Don't knock it until you've tried it!
La Best Cherry Cone
Delicious cherry ice-cream with bits of cherry all throughout. Top layer of almonds is the best, but overall this cherry flavoured ice-cream was amazing! Complete with the milk-chocolate plug at the bottom of the sugar cone to stop the melting ice-cream from dripping!
빵또아 (Bbang Ddoh Yah) = Cookies & Cream Ice-cream sandwich
A lovely combination of cookies & cream ice-cream sandwiched between two cake like flat pieces of bread. Literally an ice-cream sandwich. Not too heavy yet very delicious!
요맘때 = Yo Mam Ddeh. Peach Frozen Yoghurt
Unexpectedly, extremely creamy and so delicious! Bits of actual peach inside a creamy, sweet refreshing frozen yoghurt. They have other fruit flavour versions of this too (I know I saw strawberry).
쌍쌍 (Ssnag Ssang) = Twins Twins
Literally, a twin pop fudgesicle! Delicious! Creamy, cool and milk chocolatey!
옥동자 (Ok Dong Jah) = Cookies and Cream Inside a Milk Bar
Layers of deliciousness. Cookies and cream ice-cream covered in a crispy milk chocolate hard coating, with a milky ice layer on top. Delicious!
스크퓨 바 (Se-ce-ru Ba) = Screw Bar
A classic strawberry ice popsicle shaped like a giant screw. There is a harder outer layer with a slightly softer inside ice. It's fun to eat as you can twist it, or eat it in layers biting off the harder part first!
죠스 (Joh-se) = Jaws
A popsicle with a harder orange flavoured outside - which is coloured grey, and a softer ice strawberry centre. Cute teeth imprint, fruity and refreshing.
돼지바 (Dwe Jee Ba) = Literally translated is "Pig Bar"
Description is: Vanilla ice-cream with a fruity jam centre, coated in milk chocolate ice-cream with bits of crunchy cookie. A old timer that's been around like 1983 - how ironic, the same as the year of the pig!
메로나 (Meronah) = Honeydew Flavoured MIlk Ice-cream
A classic Korean ice-cream bar! Sweet milky honeydew flavoured ice-cream. Cool, creamy and delicious. They have variations now on these with banana, strawberry and mango flavours! Honeydew is the original and the best though.
인절미 통통 (Injulmee TongTong) = Rice Cake Ice-cream
These direct translations are horrible! There is this popular Korean rice-cake (떡 = Dduk) called Injulmee. It's a rice cake covered in a tan coloured soybean powder. It's very popular in Korean culture, so this ice-cream is that flavour along with a centre filling of the rice-cake!
참 붕어 싸만코 (Cham BoongUh SsaManKo) = Vanilla Ice-cream Shaped as a Fish
"BoongUh" is a famous fish shaped red-bean pasted filled bread that's sold as snacks in the winter time. This ice-cream is an ice-cream version having vanilla ice-cream, layer of red bean paste inside of a fish shaped cone.
와쿠와쿠 (Wakku Wakku) = A Crunchy Vanilla Cone
From the first bite to the last, vanilla ice-cream in a very crunchy waffle cone shaped in a flatter way so it's easer to eat. Top has a thick layer of chocolate with bits of crunchy waffle cone in it as well.
Buon Gelato 초코 & 피넛버터. (Buon Gelato Choco & Peanut Buttuh) = Buon Gelato Chocolate and Peanut Butter
Vanilla Ice-cream in a waffle cone with bits of chocolate and peanut butter infused within. A top layer of crunchy almond slivers and a plug of solid milk chocolate inside the bottom of the cone (so the ice-cream won't leak)!
크런치킹 (Crunchy King) = Ice-cream inside a Waffle
Vanilla ice-cream but with a layer of crunchy "popping chocolate balls" on top under the waffle casing. The waffle looks like it would be chocolate flavoured, but really, there is not a strong flavour from the waffle.
끌레도르 민트바 (Claire D'or Mint Ba) = Claire D'ore Mint Bar
Cool mint ice-cream dipped in a thick layer of milk chocolate. Each bite tastes like a mint chocolate chip ice-cream, so how can you go wrong with that!?
Buon Gelato 블랙쿠키 & 소프트초코 (Buon Gelato Black Cookie & Soft Choco) = Buon Gelato Black Cookie & Soft Chocolate
A bar of cookies and cream ice-cream coated in a thick chocolate cover. I like how the ice-creams in Korea are less sweet. So this isn't as rich as a regular cookies and cream may be elsewhere.
메가톤 (Megaton) = Solid Caramel Ice-cream
Flavourful, creamy and sweet caramel flavoured ice-cream. Would be even better with some sea-salt caramel sprinkled on top. Hmm...
폴라포 (Poll La Po) = A Grape Push-Pop
Pieces of round/chunky ice in a form of a giant grape push-pop. Extremely sweet and artificial syrup tasting if you like that sort of thing!
누가바 (Noo Ga Ba) = Nougat Bar
Lightly nougat flavoured ice-cream in a lightly coated chocolate covering. Lighter than other ice-creams and coatings.
와일드마디 바닐라 (Wild Body Banilla) = WIld Body Vanilla
Vanilla Ice-cream with thin flaky chocolate wrapped in and around the bar. Yummy and flaky texture in a light cream vanilla ice-cream! Same bar below but mocha flavour.
와일드마디 모카 (Wild Body Mocha) = WIld Body Mocha
Mocha ice-cream with thin flaky chocolate wrapped in and around the bar. Yummy and flaky texture in a light cream mocha ice-cream! Same as the above vanilla version!
아포가토 (AhPoGaTo) = Affogato
Vanilla ice-cream coated in an espresso chocolate casing. Tastes exactly like what it sounds like!
크런키 화이트 블랙쿠키 (Crunky White Black Cookie) = White chocolate cookies and cream ice-cream
Crunchy bits of oreo type of cookie in a white chocolate coating.
모히또빠 (Mohito Ba) = Mojito Bar
Tastes exactly like a fruity lime popsicle. Maybe I was expecting a bit of a twist, but it was just an icy lime popsicle.
To-be-continued...