I hate the heat. Probably as much as I hate the cold, but I really do hate the heat. I cope with it in Brisbane as there always seems to be a green shady place to escape to, but not in this concrete jungle. Instead, I run for the shopping centres with their heavenly air conditioning.
To help me survive this season, yesterday I bought a kakigori (snow cone/ shaved ice) machine. There are many to choose from, most with characters. I went for a traditional looking one, one that I can easily take when I move back to Australia next year.
We christened it today.
Ice cubes go in the top and are then pushed down close to the blade. The wheel at the end is easy to use and it's so much fun watching all the shiny flakes of ice land in the bowl in the bottom.
Mmmm... just look at all those yummy artificial colourings! I bought strawberry, melon and lemon flavourings.
I had to be a kid and go for the trifecta of flavours. What a perfect way to cool down.
16 comments:
I had my first kakigori of 2008 last night too. I'm a melon-flavour fan. I mean, who doesn't love having a green tongue?
Na, my fave is cola, but the cola syrup is hard to get. Second choice is strawberry.
Yummy!!! Shave ice always reminds me of Hawaii. (mom's from there) And I totally get where you're coming from about the heat...I can't stand it! I'm thinking of buying a summer house up in Alaska!
I've never heard of something like that machine. Eating ice? :)
I understand you about the heat - I can't stand it either. But I wouldn't mind if we got a little more than 10 C (today's temperature here).
Hey Sasparilla Sue - Yep, I can imagine shaved ice would be quite popular in Hawaii. A summer house in Alaska sounds like heaven to me!
Hey Peter - Oh my! 10 degrees C! That's colder than winter gets in my hometown! Yeh, I don't think you'd need shaved ice in Sweden (it is Sweden that you live in isn't it?). It's really yummy though, flakes of ice covered in super-sweet fruit flavoured syrup.
Yes, I'm living in Sweden. Today it's warmer, between 15-20 degrees C. During the winter we usually have a period with -30 degrees C, but anything between +5 and -30 is common.
It sound's yummy with the shaved ice though. Do you have that in Australia too?
It is very similar to what we have in Singapore. We call it Ice Kacang here. More ingredients are added though like, canned red beans, canned corn kernels, jelly, grass jelly. Then shaved ice pile on top of the ingredients and shaped into a mount. The syrups are swirled around it. Gula melaka syrup and condensed milk are added on top of the heap. It's really yummy and perfect for those hot days!!! ^_^
Hey Peter, Wow, that's still way to cold for me! Yep, we have shaved ice in Australia too. We call them "snow cones". They were always a special treat in summer.
Hey Teesa, I saw those when I was in Singapore but never tried one. I should have, they sound yummy.
Mmmm ...... oishisoo!!!
;-)
I love ice dessert!! They sell them on the streets in markets in Taiwan!!!
Summer in Japan is so colorful!!
Hey Juddie, oishi da yo!
Hey Faz, are they the same as these or more like the ones in Singapore?
Hey Syahiran, it certainly is, the festivals will all start soon and then it gets really colourful!
Ah yes! We got a snow cone machine a few weeks ago, and it's been a big hit at our house. :)
Yeh, I haven't used it for the last couple of weeks, I think it's time to bring it out again.
Do you know it is really easy to make your own syrups? I wanted green tea syrup here in America, where it is hard to find so I looked up a recipe and it was so easy. Most of the syrups are all just equal parts sugar and water, brought to a boil, then simmered for 4 minutes. Then you can add a teaspoon of matcha for green tea flavor. Or try an equal part of chocolate syrup for chocolate flavor (if you use half a cup of water and sugar, then use half a cup of chocolate syrup). Or just add a kool aid packet to the simple syrup, which gives you a huge variety of flavors.
Hey Anon - thanks for that! I'll have to try that myself.
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