Shave ice

Shave ice in Hawaii

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Desert or Dessert.’ See more responses here.

I was going to give this week a miss, not having any desert-like photos and not being a food photographer, but then I realized that I’ve never posted anything about an iconic Hawaiian treat, shave ice. Shave ice is actually Japanese in origin, called kakigōri there, and was brought to Hawaii by immigrants during the sugar plantation era.

It’s a fairly simple dessert to make. Thin ice shavings are gathered in a cup and then covered with syrup, usually fruit flavored. The shaved ice remains quite fluffy and absorbs the syrup giving a consistent flavor for the whole dish. This one was a simple strawberry flavor, but a wide variety of flavor combinations can be made with this versatile treat.

Shave ice is very refreshing and I like it, but I confess I’d still plump for ice cream given the choice.

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20 thoughts on “Shave ice”

  3. Sandy

    On the island where I grew up we called it ‘Snow cone’ and was manually shaved from a solid ice block with a metal ice scraper. A scoop of ice was served in a paper cone and squirted with red syrup which could’ve been strawberry or cherry, who knows. It was sweet, cool and refreshing!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Graham Post author

      I guess snow cones in the US are made with crushed ice, but I think a lot of countries have variations on the shaved ice theme. It’s definitely refreshing.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Sandy

        In Singapore when it was 33C & 100% humidity, I enjoyed ice jellies & ice kechang which are SE Asian versions. In that kind of heat, it’s far more refreshing than ice cream.

        Liked by 1 person

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