There is something basic, scientific, and innately human at play when one bites into a delicious, frosty treat on a hot day. Filipinos have the joy known as halo-halo, Angelenos are no strangers to the delight a Mexican paleta can bring, and Hawaiians have shave ice — or, for those who are lucky enough to live on the Big Island, “ice shave.”
Today, shave ice is Hawai’i’s go-to frozen treat. The idea is to create a bed of soft, feathery ice with the consistency of freshly fallen snow that absorbs syrup, as opposed to snow cones in which syrup pools at the bottom. To achieve this, one needs both a machine with razor-sharp blades and someone to first diligently catch the falling ice and then to shape it into a mound or dome (gently, of course). It’s more complex than it sounds and requires an abundance of patience. Thankfully, there are a handful of wonderful places that serve excellent Hawaiian shave ice in Los Angeles.
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