"I want to create ice cream flavors that are uniquely Vietnamese, so that foreigners will remember Vietnam after just one taste," said Thao Nguyen, owner of La Creme ice cream shop.

Located on Pho Duc Chinh Street, across from the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum, La Creme has seating for fewer than 10 customers. Unlike typical ice cream shops, it serves unique flavors such as fish sauce, pho, and Bac Lieu salt ice cream.

In 2019, Thao Nguyen started her handmade ice cream business while living in the US. She began by selling fresh durian ice cream online, catering to the Vietnamese community abroad. She explained that Vietnamese durian is not readily available in the US, with Thai or Malaysian durian being more common. Most durian ice cream in the US uses artificial flavorings or frozen, bland fruit. Thao's online shop offered handmade ice cream made entirely from fresh durian. Her durian ice cream consistently sold out, winning over even local customers.

The pho ice cream (left) and fish sauce ice cream (right) have the appearance of regular ice cream.

Thao Nguyen creates her handmade ice cream flavors. Photo: NVCC

The ice cream shop in Thao Dien.

The handmade ice cream is made fresh weekly.

With her business in the US thriving, Thao decided to return to Vietnam in 2022, eager to develop her handmade ice cream in Ho Chi Minh City. She recognized a "paradox": Vietnam, a land with abundant tropical fruits, mostly offered basic ice cream flavors like chocolate, vanilla, coconut, and green tea. Few places used fresh ingredients, opting instead for artificial flavors or frozen ingredients with preservatives.

After a year of market research, Thao opened her first shop in Thao Dien in 2023, starting with 8 signature flavors, including fish sauce. She noted that this familiar Vietnamese condiment piques the curiosity of both foreign and local customers.

"Using fish sauce in ice cream isn't as strange as it sounds, because the fish sauce is processed into a salty-sweet sauce that complements the creamy base," Thao explained.

The main ingredient is fresh anchovy fish sauce, simmered with caramel to create a sauce. This process mellows the fish sauce aroma, blending it with the sweet, rich flavor of caramelized sugar to create a salty-sweet-creamy sensation similar to a salted caramel sauce. This sauce is then drizzled over fresh ice cream, maintaining a subtle fish sauce aroma that allows customers to appreciate the flavor without being overwhelmed. For every 5–10 kg batch of ice cream base, about two 1-liter bottles of fish sauce are needed.

The process of reducing fish sauce to make the fish sauce ice cream topping. Video: NVCC

"We tried the Vietnamese fish sauce ice cream. It sounded unusual, but the flavor was like a combination of coconut and caramel – very pleasant," commented a tourist from Canada.

In 2024, Thao opened her second shop near Ben Thanh Market, a popular tourist destination. There, she created another distinctly Vietnamese flavor: pho ice cream. The idea stemmed from asking foreign visitors what they missed most about Vietnam, and pho was almost always the first answer.

Spices used in pho broth are also used in the pho ice cream.

The finished fish sauce ice cream.

Anchovy fish sauce used in the fish sauce ice cream.

Staff help a customer transport 30 tubs of ice cream for a wedding in Mang Den.

The ice cream captures the essence of pho broth, incorporating star anise, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, coriander seeds, dried tangerine peel, and fennel. The spices are dried, roasted at high heat to enhance their aroma, and then simmered overnight to extract their essence. This spiced infusion is blended with the ice cream base, creating a flavor reminiscent of pho broth. Because of the spice infusion, the pho ice cream has a "slightly thick and grainy texture".

Quynh Nhu, a resident of Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City, tried the pho ice cream out of curiosity. "The first bite was like eating a bowl of pho, rich in five-spice flavor, with a unique sweet and creamy taste," she said, adding that it wasn't as strange as she had imagined.

The process of cooking the spices for the pho ice cream. Video: NVCC

Thao Nguyen shared that after three years, her menu boasts over 100 flavors, all made with fresh ingredients. Each week, the shop produces 20-30 kg of ice cream, enough for the week because it contains no preservatives. Every three months, Thao introduces a new flavor. The menu is divided into three categories: signature (permanent flavors), must try (recommended flavors), and seasonal menu.

In addition to fish sauce and pho spices, other local produce and ingredients used include Bac Lieu salt oreo ice cream, Cat Chu mango ice cream, and red dragon fruit ice cream.

A Vietnamese-Australian couple who returned to Vietnam for their wedding in late June ordered 300 tubs of the shop's signature salt ice cream for their guests. The ice cream was packed in dry ice to maintain its frozen state during transport from Ho Chi Minh City to the wedding venue in Mang Den.

Thao admitted that sourcing ingredients, especially fruit, is challenging. She has to carefully select suppliers, monitor seasons, and check ripeness and quality to ensure a consistently high-quality product. Another challenge is the current economic climate, with customers tightening their spending.

The Thao Dien shop maintains a loyal clientele of local residents and expats, while the downtown location primarily serves tourists.

Currently, a single scoop costs 65,000 VND, two scoops 95,000 VND, a set of four small scoops 120,000 VND. A 125 ml tub costs 90,000 VND, and a 473 ml tub costs 220,000 VND.

"The price is higher than industrial ice cream because it's entirely handmade," Thao explained.

Article and photos by Bich Phuong