ice shave

Can you tell I’m a Hilo-girl?  It’s “ice shave” to us on the Big Island and “shave ice” to the rest of the 808 state.

One of the pleasantries of living in Vegas is that so many island foods are easily accessible to us.  It seems that this summer, shave ice has become quite the popular trend.  I hope that it’s more than a trend and rather here to stay!  One sign of its permanency in this market is the opening of brick-and-mortar locations.  Today I visited Avalanche Shave Ice, the first actual shave ice shop that I’ve been to here in Vegas.  Until now, I’ve sampled it out of the numerous carts and food trucks across the valley.

Avalanche has the basic offerings — finely shaved ice, ice cream, condensed milk.  The showstopper, though, is the large syrup bar that spans the length of their eatery.  It’s aesthetically pleasing, nice, gimmicky… the first thing I think is, “the commercialization of shave ice.”  I’m certainly not an ice shave expert, but I would guess that the art of perfecting the shave ice lies in a few variables: the ice, the machine, & the syrup.

I gotta admit, I got a little giddy at the thought of creating my first, very own li hint mui / pineapple shave ice!  After spending the last thirty years carefully watching my shave ice made for me at Itsu’s, Kawate Seed Shop, and Wilson’s, I thought, “I got this.”   My pet peeve is when no more nuff syrup, so I showered my bad boy with lots and lots of it!

What I did learn from this experience was that I have a profoundly new respect for the shave ice makers of Hawaii!  After creating my very own sticky, overly sweet, watery mess of a snack, I realized that syrup-ing a shave ice is no easy feat.  Aside from making it taste decent, making it look good is a whole ‘nother story!  I know that perfecting the shave ice and creating one of those spots that command lines out the door does not happen by accident.  I know that the slight subtleties in the ice, machine, and syrup are what make each spot unique and what make a Kawate’s Ice Shave different from a Wilson’s one.  Although I knew these things in my head, I didn’t quite respect the fact until I took on the task myself.

Big ups to Avalanche, for satisfying my shave ice craving.   Will it rival the shave ice in Hawaii?  Probably not, at least not until I can perfect my shave ice syrup-ing skills, but I’ll still take a half a smile over no smile any day.  I could eat shave ice here all day everyday and I will still crave a Wilson’s one, but that’s part of the beauty of shave ice.  To each their own!