kakigori

[torakris]

One of the joys of the Japanese summer!

have any favorite flavors or unusual combinations?

[torakris]

some of the fancier ones seen in restaurants:

http://www.lookpage.co.jp/topics/no020807/

[torakris]

I really enjoy kakigori, but now that I have seen the Korean version, I think I want that instead....

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=45398&st=0

[Yuki]

I like shaved ice with stewed taro and condensed milk. I think it is a combination from Taiwan.

[melonpan]

some of the fancier ones seen in restaurants:

http://www.lookpage.co.jp/topics/no020807/

here is one for those who can't decide:

http://www002.upp.so-net.ne.jp/Tyobitto/DSCF00151.jpg

the matcha syrup that they use at those shops are positively intense looking. delectable (in particular the one at 月ヶ瀬). i think matcha syrup is sold here too, but i dont know if it would look as dark and pleasing as what these places seem to use.

[chibirisu]

One of my favorite Korean cafes in the area recently went out of business (makes me feel obscurely guilty for cooking at home so much ) and so now nobody in town makes pat-bing-soo anymore. The way they made it involved shaved ice on the bottom, red bean paste next, fruits and little tiny chewy-mochi-squares next, and ice cream on top, sometimes with chocolate or strawberry or coffee flavored syrup on top, and it was the sort of thing you got one of and shared with the whole table.

It seems to be essentially identical to a Filipino dessert by a different name but with the same set of layers, and I was wondering if Japanese families did something like it too, since my host mom's 5-year-old's favorite dessert was "kakigoori" (shaved ice with something on it, in his case typically sweetened condensed milk).

Then I discovered that there's an established version of kakigoori with red bean paste on it, called kintoki-kakigoori, which seemed like a kind of "partial pat-bing-soo."

Is there a direct equivalent of pat-bing-soo in the Japanese dessert lexicon, or do they typically save all the frills for specifically ice-cream-parfait desserts rather than shaved-ice desserts? I've seen some elaborately decorated ice cream in some excruciatingly pink girly-ice-cream shops in Osaka, including more uses for corn flakes than I ever imagined -- but I never spotted the shaved-ice kind...

[JasonTrue]

I don't remember if they called it by a special name, but I had kakigouri in the style of fruits anmitsu in a small shop in Takayama. The shaved ice was under all the other stuff, and I think there was a scoop of ice cream.

Ice cream anmitsu (cream anmitsu) usually includes a bit of fruit, some kind of ice cream, and black sugar syrup or simple syrup. It's not exactly layered but kind of composed. The Takayama shop I visited served something like this with kakigouri underneath, with varying levels of complexity.

[torakris]

I don't eat kakigori out much as it gets expensive when you are feeding 5 people... I have seen some pretty fancy versions but I don't think I have ever seen them as layered as the korean versions.

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

The kintoki that they serve at the Obon Carnival at the Buddhist temple I went to growing up was just sweetened, cooked azuki beans on a bed of plain shaved ice. I actually preferred it to the shaved ice.

[torakris]

Yes, I do realize it is January but I just got around to pulling these off my cell phone...

and with a little help from mom and dad they did manage to finish those!

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

Wow... my kids would love those. The shaved ice/snow cones we get here are puny in comparison.

Your kids are very cute.