Mainland Shave Ice that doesn’t suck
Okay so usually I would NOT turn OnEnsemble.org into an advertisement for anything but I feel compelled to let you all know know that I found something I thought I would never find: mainland shave ice that doesn’t suck! For years and years I’ve been wondering why it’s so hard to make shave ice like Hawaii’s famous Matsumotos or my personal favorite Waiola’s.
When I lived in Hawai’i going to Waiola’s was a religious experience. Inspired by chado I sought perfection in the ritual of my own shave ice ceremony. To arrive fully with all of your senses in a single moment to enjoy the pleasure of a lychee shave ice is to attain some kind of modern day enlightenment. Of course there was a practical element to this as well. I was broke. To be specific I was trying to save money to move to Japan while living in Hawai’i and making about five hundred bucks a month on the various taiko gigs we’d get. I didn’t want to get a “real” job because I wanted all of time and energy to go into pursuing my art so I came up other lifestyle solutions. Like “spending less is the same as making more” and “natto is the most protein you can buy for your dollar” and “if you cook with habenros you eat more rice get full faster and spend less on food”. But my best solution was the shave ice ritual. Even on my extremely tight budget I wanted to do some fun things like get shave ice every single day. I figured if I could compress seven units of shave ice eating enjoyment into a single shave ice it’ll be like I had shave ice everyday but would only have to buy one a week.
Fast forward ten years and these lifestyle choices have led to a few unintended consequences. I’ve become a food snob. I used to think “I’m not a snob I just care a lot about food/music/etc” but it’s a slippery slope to snobdom from there. Soon you find yourself thinking “this shave ice isn’t worthy of my ritual” and frustrated that nobody on the mainland can seem to make shave ice! I mean it’s not like building a robot or discovering the cure for cancer it’s ice… that you shave… and put syrup on top… why oh why doesn’t anybody take this seriously enough to do it right!! ARGHHGHGHGGHGHGHH!!!
So when my wife suggested we try this shave ice place that she saw at the Glendale Americana I was very skeptical. Imagine my delight when the beautifully shaped shave ice gave way perfectly to the slight pressure from the spoon. When the fineness of the ice was like cream… A shave ice worthy of the ritual.
(but don’t get the mochi… they use the super salty lame ass pink berry mochi… life is too short for lame mochi but that’s a topic for another rant…)
Tags: Stewie's Shave Ice
Dude! Come back to the Hilo side one day…we’ll give you the ‘ice shave’ tour of the Big Island!
Hey Paul! Yes that would be fabulous!
I’m excited to try this. Best shave ice I had was in Tanegashima and it ruined me. I’m proud of you for admitting you’re a food snob… the first step is admitting it. I wish I could be one, but I don’t discriminate enough.