Kakigori (Nara Strawberry Shaved Ice)
Quick answer
- Total time
- 10 min
- Level
- Easy
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 2
About this dish
Kakigori is Japanese shaved ice made by cutting a block of ice into fine, airy flakes and coating it with syrup.
Read more
Nara has a particularly long association with ice: Himuro Shrine is said to have been established in 710, and a ceremony offering ice has continued there. The Heian-period essay The Pillow Book also mentions shaved ice served with amazura sweetener. Shops now sell kakigori throughout the year, though it remains most closely linked to hot summer weather. This version uses syrup made from Nara strawberries for a bright regional flavor. Building the ice lightly in chilled bowls and adding the syrup in several passes lets flavor reach the center without compressing the delicate flakes, producing a soft mound that should be eaten immediately.
Ingredients
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Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Control
Chill four serving bowls in the refrigerator.
Clean every part of the shaved-ice machine that touches the ice, and confirm that the blade and cover are secured correctly.
- 2Prep
Prepare the food-grade ice in the size required by the machine.
While it is running, keep hands and utensils away from the blade and feed opening, and catch the fine flakes lightly in each chilled bowl.
- 3Step
When each bowl is about half full, drizzle on a little strawberry syrup.
Continue shaving without pressing the flakes, build a soft mound, then distribute the remaining syrup evenly in two or three passes.
- 4Finish
Serve all four bowls immediately, before the ice crystals melt and collapse.
Shave only just before eating, and do not refreeze ice that has been held at room temperature.
Practical Cooking Checks
The cues that matter most while cooking.
- Key technique
- Food-grade ice is shaved finely and piled without compression in chilled bowls.
- Finish cue
- Continue shaving without pressing the flakes, build a soft mound, then distribute the remaining syrup evenly in two or three passes.
- Avoid this
- Do not compress the ice in the bowl.
- Storage and reheating
- Chill four serving bowls in the refrigerator.
Cooking decision evidence
Calculated Charim data and applicable official cooking and food safety guidance.
This recipe
10min, 2 ingredients
Category median
45min, 6 ingredients
Based on 144 recipes
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