This article is timely. The first time I experienced real kakigori was while I was an exchange student in Japan. There was an old cafe in my neighborhood. It was always packed with locals. The shop master wore a burgundy beret, round horn rimmed glasses and was onnery...mean to a point. The customers came and enjoyed his creations in complete silence. That was the rule. No screams of how tasty his desserts were, no chatting. Just sit enjoy and be on your way. He was notorious. I went to the cafe to study. Normally ordered a hand dripped coffee. On one hot summer day without asking the shop master presented me with a pineapple ginger sweet bean kakigori. It was heavenly...even now thirty years later I can still taste his perfection.
I was informed the shop master had passed. He was single with no kids. But to my surprise he gifted me his old, heavy and rickity kakigori machine. It's still somewhere in my basement.
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The real shaved ice is Malaysian ”ABC” - !
This reminds me of Costa Rican granizados (shaved ice, sweet and condensed milk, powdered milk and red Kola syrup). In Colombia they have cholados (shaved ice, sweet and condensed milk, fruit, and a cookie on top). In Puerto Rico they have piraguas (shaved ice and syrup sold from pushcarts). Lin Manuel Miranda showcased "piraguas" in one of his songs in his In The Heights musical. I enjoyed this article!
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Cafe Leah in Palisades Park NJ has excellent patbingsu
This dessert looks absolutely delightful!
When I lived on the N. Shore of Oahu way back in the early 80's there was a 'shave ice' place called Matsumoto's. Worth the wait with the tourists and the bees. Aoki's is da kine too.
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I live on Oahu. Shave ice is a staple all all year, from Matsumoto's to a bunch of other places island wide, even at block parties. President Obama favored Island Snow in Kailua. He, the girls, and a large party would stop by every time he vacationed here.
Call it what you may, whatever the culture is, it is a welcome refreshing dessert or snack.
Glad the Tiems ran the story and that mj commented.
aloha.
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“Kakinoki” plays more than a simple snow cone roll in Japanese culture. It knows no discrimination across the ranks of age, class or context. It is a frozen “staple” from the high-end cafes in Ginza, to the amusement and ball park treats nation-wide. Seasonably it has a place year-round, and shows is best colors in annual festivals nation-wide.
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in Singapore, we call this "ice kacang"
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The three shave ice shops in Haleiwa on the north shore of Oahu are constantly crowded, thanks to popularizing it by Pres.Obama. For those leaving the Arizona Memorial, there is Baldwin Shave Ice in the Waimalu Shopping Center just a couple miles west of the memorial complex along Kamehameha Highway. Many Hawaii homes have a hand crank shave ice maker. Many churches own an electric shave ice maker for gatherings. It’s a Hawaii treat thanks to our Japanese heritage.
The piece gave me a lot of nostalgia: Some 60 years ago, few homes had fridges or TV's in my hometown near Tokyo. In the summertime, my uncle took me to a nearby small restaurant and ordered kakigori, stayed there more than an hour watching a baseball game on the TV. There were only two different orders, plain and deluxe. The former had only a syrup (we had a choice; what we call "strawberry" or "lemon" but almost the same, artificial colors and flavors) on the top but the latter also had condensed milk at the bottom with a bit more ice. The price was 5 yen and 10 yen, respectively. It was always my uncle's treat, so I had a plain and he a deluxe; I always thought I would have a deluxe one day. Now people would pay 1,000 yen for an artistic kakigori. It's not my type and I hadn't had one for more than a decade.
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What a nice story! You should get yourself a kakigori soon. I'm sure most places would be happy to give you a less elaborate version. Bring along a young relative and give them some nice memories of shave ice also.
Absolutely love this article. It's a great insight into the recent popularity of shaved ice desserts in contemporary Asian restaurants here in the US, especially here in California.
I'm absolutely eager to visit Stonemill Matcha soon, myself.
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Jay Amberg (below) has kindly answered my question about how one eats kakigori in Hawaii and the Caribbean. I keep wondering, how does one eat it in Japan?
Judging by the scenes in Japanese historical samurai films, it must be either with the chopsticks, working fast without letting the ice melt; or by burrying one's mouth in the pile of ice, as if it were a bowl of soup with some ingredients floating in it.
R.S.V.P., thanks in advance.
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We eat shave ice with a spoon!
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@Tuvw Xyz In Japan, we eat kakigori with a metal or plastic spoon. Chopsticks won’t let you capture melting ice, and since the dish is best served in a chilled bowl to keep the ice from melting, you would not want to put your mouth to it—it’d be too cold.
@ tokyo_resident Tokyo
Thank you very much for this info. I could not help but think of a scene in a samurai film, where Mifune picks out with chopsticks individual flies from his kimono and the bowl of rice.
Growing up in the 50's I'd get a snow-cone for a dime at the park. Cherry was my favorite.
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Hawaiian's have been serving shave ice in many unique forms since the concept was first brought to the Islands by Japanese immigrants and I've had it in a number of Caribbean Islands as well. I know bean paste is a very popular topping in Hawaii. In the Caribbean I've had it with juices of guava, mango, pineapple and papaya. Most of the blends were like secret recipes or so I was told. There used to be a street vendor in Kingston, Jamaica, who made it with a mix of rums, Tia Maria and banana. Not for the faint of heart.
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In Hawaii and Caribbean with a small spoon either plastic or wood..you can get a straw too to suck up the melt. Haven t made it to Japan yet.
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@Tuvw Xyz In Japan, generally with a small spoon (in an eat-in place) or with a disposable wooden spoon or one of those straws that have a little scoop at the end (for on-the-go eating).
@ Jay Amberg Neptune, N.J.
Leaving US for a moment aside, how does one eat a traditional kakigori in Japan? With chopsticks? By biting into it directly?
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