photo by きうこ
July is ending, the rainy season has gone and the summer has come all over Japan. All the best thigs about Japanese summer, fireworks festivals, camping or beach vacation are coming up. On the other hand, there is of course a huge downside of Japanese summer, heat. But don’t warry. Even the terrible heat can be a great help to enjoy Japanese culture. Eating “kakigori” (snowball) made of natural ice is a great example of such summer activities. It is so light, fluffy and absolutely different from ordinary snow cones or snow balls. Now, let’s have a look where we can indulge ourselves with natural ice Kakigori.
What is natural ice Kakigori?
photo by open-arms
Natural ice Kakigori is a snow ball or snow cone made with shaved natural ice. To make natural ice, spring water from the mountain surface is tapped into the ice making pool and gets slowly frozen there.
Dusts and other impure substances are gently swept off every day to purify the ice. Once the ice reaches about 15cm thick, it gets cut into tiles, wrapped with sawdust and stored in the ice house until dispatched. There are five natural ice producers around Kanto region, Yoshimichi Himuro, Shogetsu Himuro, Mitsuboshi Himuro (Nikko, Tochigi), Asami Reizo (Chichibu, Saitama) and Watanabe Shokai (Karuisawa, Nagano). All the ice production for the year is done during the coldest months, normally January and February. The best feature of natural ice Kakigori is the fluffy feeing on the tongue. It is hard to stop once you taste it in hot and muggy summer afternoon.
Himitsudo
This place probably is the best known Kakigori shop in Tokyo. You may have to wait up to 6hours at the busiest times. In such a case, a shop staff gives customers numbered dockets so that they can spend the time to wander around Yanaka city without just standing up in a queue. They change menu list depending on seasons, the summer menu varies daily and can be checked on their twitter. The winter menu includes some hot foods such as gratin and French toasts as well as strawberry cream, caramel pumpkin or other Kakigori menu. Finely shaved natural ice cannot keep its figure for long, but remaining mixture of syrup and melted ice tastes delicious too. A bunch of straws are set on the tables for customers who wants to sip the residual soup in the cup.
Himitsudo Website (Japanese)
Address: 3-11-18 Yanaka Taito-ku Tokyo
Ph: 03-3824-4132
Beer Bar Lupulin
As can be seen from its name, this place is normally a beer restaurant of Japanese craft beers. But it has been also widely known for one of their dessert menu, natural ice Kakigori. Finely shaved super fluffy snowball with original syrup melts away on the tongue in a moment. This Kakigori can be served as a dessert after dinner because it is so tasty and popular. Ordinary pure ice is used for lunch time dessert and Kakigori ordered by itself, but these ones taste wonderful as well.
Beer Bar Lupulin Website (Japanese)
Address: Urano Bld.3F, 6-7-7 Ginza Chuo-ku Tokyo
Ph: 03-6228-5728
Neiroya
Neiroya is a very popular ramen noodle shop in Tokyo but also became famous for natural ice Kakigori by word of mouth. As well as the ramen noodles made from strictly selected ingredients, the owner keeps selective eyes on quality and production areas for Kakigori ingredients. The chilling taste of Kakigori is so refreshing after eating hot ramen noodles. Kakigori is served with one of the original sauces flavored of plum, mandarin, strawberry milk etc. trading hours and serving time of Kakigori vary each day, so don’t forget to check their Twitter before visiting the shop.
Neiroya Twitter
Address: 3-6-24 Amanuma Suginami-ku Tokyo
Wa Kitchen Kan-na
This place is very popular with many customers queueing up to get in. The locally based restaurant opened in 2013 as an authentic Japanese restaurant. Along with the delicious Japanese cuisine created with selected ingredients, their natural ice Kakigori with original syrups has been attracting high popularity. Fluffy shaved ice sitting on a bowl as if a cotton candy, you can choose a flavored syrup from a good variety such as standard menu including green tea, strawberry milk, tiramisu, or special menu including moca pudding, toasted soybean flour and plum yoghurt. It takes a little long, 10munites’ walking, from a closest railway station Sangenjaya Station, this place is always busy with people who come for their Kakigori.
Wa Kitchen Kan-na
Address: 2F, 2-43-11 Shimouma Setagaya-ku Tokyo
Ph: 03-6453-2737
CHAKURA
located in the Tokyo down town Asakusa, the Japanese style café CHAKURA is known for selective food and drinks. All the drinks served here is made with pure spring water and coffee beans are freshly ground for each order. Of course, they use natural ice for their Kakigori. The natural ice is served in a little thick shave to create crunchy texture. The homemade syrups are carefully brought into a perfection with a variety of flavors including green tea, peach, amanatsu citrus, and blueberry cheese cream. Here, Kakigori menu is served throughout the year. Also, this place attracts many tourists as it is close to the Sensoji, the landmark of Asakusa, and gift shops they can purchase souvenirs.
CHAKURA Website (Japanese)
Address: 2-2-2 Asakusa Taito-ku Tokyo
Ph: 03-5830-0077
Bon Appétit!
Sounds yummy, doesn’t it? It might be a picture of a crunchy ice ball sitting on a cone when you think of Kakigori. Those lovely crushed ices with colorful syrup on top are widely loved all over the world. But Japanese natural ice Kakigori introduced in this column has totally different texture from those ordinary snow cones. It melts softly on your tongue as if it is real snow and never gives you a brain freeze. So, if you are coming to Japan in summertime, do try it and enjoy a moment of cooling sensation.
