Immigrant from Thailand brings ice cream flavors from childhood to Cary

Nat Jirasawad, a former sushi chef with a sweet tooth, opened Sugar Koi in Cary, where he mixes authentic Asian ice cream for a community he loves.

Born in Bangkok, Thailand, Nat grew up making homemade coconut ice cream with his mom and sister.

Together, he laughed, the children would hand-crank ice cream in a cedar bucket while his mom relaxed and read her romance novels. It was a lot of work, taking at least an hour, but ice cream created a special bond in their family, especially on Fridays, when they would celebrate the end of the week or good grades with a sweet treat.

Today, Nat concocts handmade ice cream made from the same recipe his mom taught him decades ago. Hanging on the walls at Sugar Koi are 24 ice cream scoops, 12 of them his mother's, including a special green scoop with black handles, the oldest in his family.

"That one is very special to my heart," Nat said.

Nat moved to the United States in 1998 with big dreams. He worked with his aunt and uncle at their sushi restaurant, Sushi Thai, located just doors down from where Sugar Koi opened last year. He took classes at Wake Tech and Campbell University and watched all the movies he could to learn English before opening his first ice cream shop in Durham.

In September 2022, Nat opened Sugar Koi in Cary, returning to the same Kildaire Farm Road shopping center he called home after his move from Thailand.

"To be honest, I feel like this is moving back home," he said.

It was a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease that steered Nat in the direction of opening Sugar Koi, bringing his love of ice cream and his creativity to life.

"Cutting fish with Parkinson's was not an option," said Nat, who decided ice cream would be a perfect transition from the fast-paced restaurant business.

Nat wanted to bring authentic Asian ice cream to the Triangle, so the flavors at Sugar Koi are new to many customers.

Each month Nat concocts new flavors, but homemade staples include Ube, made with a sweet purple yam popular in Okinawa and the Philippines, Thai tea, matcha green tea and a dairy-free lychee sorbet. Every specialty flavor is made in-house by Nat using the same ice cream base his mom taught him years ago.

"I never took classes, and all this is not a gift," said Nat. "It's determination."

Last month, Nat spent hours in the Sugar Koi kitchen each week, grinding pandan leaves to flavor a special lavender and grass-flavored ice cream. This month's creation is Hōjicha, a strong-roasted green tea from Japan. Other ideas include a chili-lime sorbet, wasabi and mango-flavored ice cream, all made with fresh ingredients.

Ice cream is served in freshly-baked fish koiyaki waffle cones. Nat tested waffle cone batter 14 times before he found the perfect recipe.

Sugar Koi is full of special touches, from Nat's paintings on the wall to his employees -- many are the children of customers he used to serve at Sushi Thai when he first moved to the U.S.

You can visit Sugar Koi at 116 Kilmayne Drive, at the intersection of Kildaire Farm Road and Maynard Road. You can follow Sugar Koi on Instagram to keep up with new flavors.