CARY, N.C. — An ice cream shop is bringing unique Asian flavors to the Triangle.
Nat Jirasiwad is the owner of Sugar Koi, an Asian ice cream shop in Cary. Jirasiwad was born in Bangkok, Thailand. He moved to North Carolina in 1998 to work at his aunt and uncle’s restaurant. Then, he got diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease eight years ago.
“I used to work in the sushi restaurant,” Jirasiwad said. “And now I cannot even hold a knife steady. So I said, what else I can do?”
Jirasiwad says an ice cream scooper is easier to handle, plus the sweet treat always makes customers happy.
“With the ice cream shop, we are at the end of the route….” Jirasiwad said. “They are happy with their food in their stomach, and we just make the meal complete that they would fill up a little sweet stuff for the last.”
Growing up in Thailand, Jirasiwad would make homemade toasted coconut ice cream with his mom. It’s a recipe that’s still on the menu, and he claims it’s one of his many favorites.
Sugar Koi is often making new Asian flavors, and right now, customers can try matcha, Thai tea, mango, basil lime or ube. Many of these delicious scoops are topped with a koi fish-shaped waffle cone.
“We want to bring more of our culture that we embrace to, you know, to let Americans try and experience, even though they couldn't go out there all the way,” Jirasiwad said.
He hopes that his shop continues to bring visitors here in North Carolina closer to Asia. The rest of Jirasiwad’s family still lives in Thailand, and he tries to go back and visit them every year, letting them know they’re the inspiration of his ice cream success here in North Carolina.
In 2023, Sugar Koi was ranked 17 in Yelp’s list of top 100 ice cream shops in the U.S. It also ranked second in the state.