Fine-grain ice scraped from a block, drowned in housemade syrups and served over a scoop of vanilla ice cream with sweet azuki beans. Hawaii's canonical hot-day dessert, perfected on the North Shore.

Shave ice (kakigori in Japanese) came to Hawaii with Japanese plantation workers in the 1880s. Matsumoto Shave Ice in Haleiwa opened 1951 and became the canonical North Shore version with custom-cut ice and house fruit syrups; the family still runs it 75 years later. Waiola Shave Ice in Kapahulu Honolulu opened in 1940 with even finer ice grain and a deeper roster of syrups. The signature local order: rainbow shave ice over vanilla ice cream with azuki beans and condensed-milk drizzle.

Where to eat Shave ice in Honolulu

2 editor picks for Shave ice in Honolulu, ranked by editorial score. All Honolulu signature dishes · Shave ice across every city.

  • Matsumoto Shave Ice

    Order Rainbow shave ice

    Matsumoto Shave Ice in Haleiwa on Oahu's North Shore, an hour from Honolulu, has scraped fine-grain shave ice since the Matsumoto family opened.

    DetailsDirections

  • Waiola Shave Ice

    Order Strawberry condensed milk shave ice

    Waiola Shave Ice in Kapahulu Honolulu has scraped the finest shave ice in the city since 1940, now on Mokihana Street after the original Kapahulu Avenue.

    DetailsDirections

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Make it at home

Serves 43 hrEasy

Ingredients

  • 1.5 litres filtered water, frozen in a 20x20cm pan into a solid ice block
  • 250g granulated sugar
  • 250ml water for syrup
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 150g fresh strawberries
  • 1 ripe mango, pureed
  • 100g pineapple, pureed
  • 200g vanilla ice cream
  • 200g canned azuki red beans, drained
  • Condensed milk for drizzling

Method

  1. Make the strawberry syrup: simmer 100g sugar with 100ml water until dissolved. Add the strawberries and a splash of lemon juice. Cook 4 minutes, then blend and strain.
  2. Make the mango syrup: simmer 75g sugar with 75ml water until dissolved. Stir in the mango puree, cool. The pineapple syrup follows the same method.
  3. Use a shave-ice machine or a sturdy Microplane to scrape the ice block into fine, powdery flakes. Pack the flakes into a chilled bowl, mounding above the rim.
  4. Pour the three coloured syrups in a rainbow pattern across the top: red strawberry, gold mango, yellow pineapple. They should soak slightly without melting the ice.
  5. Lift one side of the mound and bury a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a spoon of azuki beans underneath.
  6. Finish with a generous drizzle of condensed milk. Eat with a spoon and a straw within five minutes.

Editor tip. A standard blender or food processor will not give the fine powdery texture; you need a machine that shaves rather than crushes. A Hatsuyuki home shaver runs around 300 USD and replicates the North Shore counter result.

Common allergens: Dairy.