It all began when 30-year-old culinary professional Sarah Tan was urged by her friends to put her delicious, creamy creations on the market.

“We got into this by chance,” Tan says, referring to her mother Kim Ngoh, 60, who is her partner in crime.

“I was making ice cream at home with my own ice cream maker and my friends asked me, ‘Are you planning on selling it?’”

She admits it was something she never thought about despite studying culinary arts in university. But her friends continued to badger her, and eventually she caved.

But once she made up her mind, there was no looking back as word spread like wildfire and soon Tan had a thriving home business to manage.

Once confident of her loyal customer base, she and her mom opened their ice cream shop in November last year.

Tan attributes the success of Minus Four Degrees to her mother, who she praises for her business acumen and experience.

“I was actually retired,” says Ngoh. “When Sarah was trying to make ice cream, I just helped and I felt that the flavours she made were nice and that there was a market for them.”

While Tan works magic in the kitchen, Ngoh works the counter and promotes the business on social media.

But here’s the burning question on most people’s lips: “Why, Minus Four Degrees specifically?”

According to Tan, the name of the business is derived from the fact that she has to take the ice cream out of the machine at exactly -4°C to ensure it maintains its creaminess and texture.

Minus Four Degrees offers a wide variety of flavours, some conventional, others much rarer finds that only the adventurous might feel compelled to try.

The parlour’s alcoholic ice creams are particularly popular, with the classic Rum & Raisin being among its bestsellers.

Ngoh proudly states that her daughter is skilled in pairing the wildest of flavours and somehow making it work.

“We had a Spicy Fish Sauce with Longan flavour,” Tan proudly proclaims about the two flavour profiles too bizarre to be combined – or so you think!

Other equally bizarre flavours that have popped up on the menu are Raspberry with Katsuobushi, and Wasabi and Smoked Salmon.

Though most people expect their ice cream to taste sweet, Tan is apparently fond of savoury ice creams.

“I like salty stuff,” Tan admits bluntly. “But for me, the balance of the creaminess and the sweetness is what makes a good ice cream.”

Because there’s such a wild and wide variety of flavours, Tan rotates the offerings regularly, so the flavour you see one week may be gone the next.

While making ice cream can be a tiresome task – Tan personally juices the fruits needed for her fruit-flavoured ice creams – experimenting with flavours is still the best part of her job, she says.

Customers too have a say about which experiments get the thumbs-up or thumbs-down as Tan leaves a tub of ice cream at the display counter for them to sample.

While the pandemic and ensuing lockdowns dealt a heavy blow to most businesses, Minus Four Degrees escaped relatively unscathed, much to Tan’s and Ngoh’s relief.

“We had been involved in delivery from the very beginning, so when Covid-19 struck, deliveries actually increased,” says Ngoh. “It saved us.”

For now, only residents of the Klang Valley are able to try out Minus Four Degrees’ delightful delicacies.

Tan is hopeful, however, that given enough time, Minus Four Degrees can spread its wings nationwide.

Hankering for some ice cream? Order now by clicking here or visit Minus Four Degrees on Instagram or Facebook.