Kakigori (shaved ice)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

History

Kakigori dates to the Heian period (Sei Shonagon's Pillow Book mentions it around 1000 CE), but the modern syrup-and-block form took off in Meiji-era Tokyo once ice production industrialised in the 1880s. The city's kakigori shops trace lineages back over a century, and the present-day craft-kakigori movement reset the bar from the 2000s onward with single-origin fruit syrups, hojicha and kinako finishes, and ice cut from natural-frozen blocks. Peak season is July to September; many specialists close mid-October.

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Common allergens: Dairy

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 15 minTotal 8 hrDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 1L still mineral water, frozen in a 1L block at least 24 hours ahead (a 1L Tupperware works)
  • For strawberry syrup: 300g strawberries, 100g caster sugar, juice of half a lemon
  • 200ml sweetened condensed milk, to serve
  • Optional toppings: 80g sweetened azuki bean paste (anko)
  • 40g toasted kinako (roasted soybean flour)
  • 4 tbsp matcha syrup

Method

  1. Freeze the water in a block 24 hours ahead. Tap-water blocks are cloudy; mineral water freezes clearer and shaves better.
  2. Make the strawberry syrup: hull and quarter the strawberries; toss with sugar and lemon juice in a bowl; rest 30 minutes until the juice runs.
  3. Blitz briefly with a stick blender to a coarse fruit pulp (do not puree completely; you want texture). Refrigerate.
  4. Take the ice block from the freezer 5 minutes before use so the surface softens just enough to shave.
  5. Using a kakigori machine (Japanese hand-crank shaver) or a sharp food-processor blade attachment, shave the ice into a tall bowl in airy mounded layers.
  6. Drizzle 4 tbsp strawberry syrup over the first layer; build a second mound; drizzle more syrup and a generous spoon of condensed milk.
  7. Finish with optional anko, kinako or matcha. Eat immediately.

Tip from the editors. Without a hand-crank shaver, a food processor slicing disc on a softened block is passable; blender-crushed ice melts to slush. Eat within two minutes.

Where to eat kakigori (shaved ice)

Kakigori (shaved ice) in Tokyo

Ameya-Yokocho street stalls ★ 4.2

¥ Street food

Ameya-Yokocho in Tokyo's Ueno is the 500-metre street under the JR tracks, 400 vendors of takoyaki, kebabs, dried seafood, post-war black-market origin.

TryTakoyaki, okonomiyaki, kebab, dried fish

TipSaturday afternoons are jammed; weekday mornings stay calm. The takoyaki stalls and Turkish kebab counters are the lunch picks.

Directions

Nakamise-dori snack street ★ 4.1

¥ Street foodCash only

Nakamise-dori in Tokyo's Asakusa is the 250-metre snack street between Kaminarimon gate and Senso-ji temple. Ningyo-yaki, agemanju, senbei since 1685.

TryNingyo-yaki, agemanju, senbei rice crackers

TipThe ningyo-yaki at Kimura-ya Honten and senbei at Tokiwa-do are the historic picks. Eat on the spot, do not walk-and-eat.

Directions

Tsukiji Outer Market standing counters ★ 4.5

¥ Street food

Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo's Chuo ward keeps 400 standing-counter food stalls running each morning. Tamagoyaki sticks, uni-don, scallop skewers.

TryTamagoyaki sticks, uni-don, grilled scallops

TipYamacho's tamagoyaki sticks and the standing-sushi counters at Sushizanmai are the canonical sequence; arrive before 09:00.

Directions

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