Shaved Ice

Happy Summer! The New York Times recently did an article about shaved ice, so I figured I’d post my favorite shaved ice from my trip abroad.

The night markets all have shaved ice, but the best I’ve had was at Shilin night market. My aunt used to take us there when we were kids and I’d always ordered the shaved ice with condensed milk and strawberries (one for me and one for David). As adults, I think the condensed milk and strawberry combination is a little too sweet, but discovered green tea shaved ice with red beans that is my new favorite. My aunt took us to the same place we used to go as kids and it’s just the way I remember!

Here’s a quick video of a waitress using their machine to shave the ice:

The waitresses quickly spin the bowl so the ice is distributed evenly on the plate – they really pile it up:

You can add pudding, sweet beans, fruit toppings, condensed milk, and sprinkles. My favorite combination was the green tea shaved ice with red beans and condensed milk:

We also got the shaved ice with condensed milk and mulberries:

We also sampled the mango:

Me and David before we started digging in:

The shaved ice is so fluffy and light – it has a great cloud-like texture and the green tea ice is probably my favorite because it’s flavorful on its own but tastes even better with the red bean. The ice is also about $2USD (so cheap!), they’re open very late, AND they’re close to very cute shopping in the night markets – if you go to Taiwan, you definitely have to try their shaved ice!