Babu Ice Cream

Babu ice cream belongs to one of the varieties of ice products invented during Japanese colonial period, which is also the time when the technology of making ice was introduced into Taiwan. In the very beginning, the prototype of ice products is sugary shaved ice, made by adding some sugar and isoamyl acetate (香蕉油) to boiling hot water, freezing it after some stirs, and finally shaving it into fine slices of ice.

Other varieties branching out later on include popsicles, shaved snow, smoothies, and pau pau ice. Taro, pineapple, and red speckled bean are the most common flavors for babu ice cream back in the days, so it is also called “three colors ice cream.”

For Taiwanese people born in the 1950s, it is always their childhood memories to see vendors that peddled babu ice cream riding a bicycle connected with a small truck of ice cream and honking the horn, reminding children living in the neighborhood that it is time for some ice cream.