is a Japanese shaved ice dessert flavored with syrup and a sweetener, often condensed milk.
The origins of kakigà Âri date back to the Heian period in Japanese history, when blocks of ice saved during the colder months would be shaved and served with sweet syrup to Japanese aristocracy during the summer. Kakigà Âri's origin is referred to in The Pillow Book, a book of observations written by Sei Shà Ânagon, who served the Imperial Court during the Heian period. Kakigà Âri became more accessible in the 19th century, when ice became more widely available to the public during the summertime. The first kakigà Âri store is believed to have opened in Yokohama in 1869.
July 25 is known as kakigà Âri day in Japan because of its pronunciation sounding similar to summer ice in Japanese. Another reasoning for July 25 being kakigà Âri day is because, on that day in 1933, there was a record high temperature in Japan.
The traditional way of making kakigà Âri uses a hand cranked machine to spin a block of ice over a shaving blade. Even though electric shavers are most often used, street vendors can still be seen hand-shaving ice blocks in the summer.
Rather than flavored ice, Kakigà Âri is traditionally made of pure ice, in many cases, being a frozen block of mineral water. The ice used is often taken from natural springs, afterward being tempered to achieve an ideal quality for shaving. Prior to refrigeration, mountain caves or ice houses would be the traditional way of storing kakigà Âri ice.
It is similar to a snow cone but with some notable differences: It has a much smoother fluffier ice consistency, much like fresh fallen snow, and a spoon is almost always used to eat it. The texture of the ice distinguishes kakigà Âri from other types of shaved ice desserts. Due to this textural difference, it has also been seen translated as 'Angel Snow'.
Popular flavors include strawberry, cherry, lemon, green tea, grape, melon, "Blue Hawaii", sweet plum, and colorless syrup. Some shops provide colorful varieties by using two or more syrups. To sweeten kakigà Âri, condensed or evaporated milk is often poured on top of it.
In addition to street stalls, kakigà Âri is sold in festivals, convenience stores, coffee shops, specialized kakigà Âri parlors, and restaurants. It's also frequently prepared by families at home. During the hot summer months, kakigà Âri is sold virtually everywhere in Japan. Especially at summer festivals and fairs such as matsuri and bon odori festivals, often served alongside other street foods such as yakisoba, takoyaki and cotton candy. Kakigà Âri is one of the summer features in Japan. Some shops serve it with ice cream and sweetened red beans or tapioca pearls.
A flag with the kanji sign for ice kà Âri (æ°·) is a common and traditional way for an establishment to indicate that they are serving kakigà Âri.
, is a type of kakigà Âri. Shirokuma is made with shaved ice flavored with condensed milk, small colorful mochi, fruits, and sweet bean paste (usually Azuki bean). Mandarin oranges, cherries, pineapples, and raisins are often used to make shirokuma.
Shirokuma has been popular in Kagoshima since the middle of the Edo period and is well known to many Japanese. Condensed milk, fruit, and sweet bean paste are served over shaved ice. It is eaten in cafés and in some department stores, such as Yamakataya (山形å±Â) or Mujaki.
Shirokuma literally means "white bear" and indicates "polar bear" in Japanese. There are some views about the origin of the name.
In one account, there was a cotton shop in Kagoshima city. The shop started to sell kakigà Âri as its side-business. The kakigà Âri was flavored with condensed milk. When the owner was thinking of a name for it, he noticed the picture of a polar bear was printed on the labels of the condensed milk's can.
Another account is that Mujaki, a coffee shop in Kagoshima City, started to sell the kakigà Âri, put milk syrup, sanshoku-kanten (colorful agar), yà Âkan (soft azuki-bean jelly), sweet beans and fruits in a pattern that resembled a polar bear when seen from overhead, so it was named shirokuma.
Yet others say that it was created in honour of the memory of Saigo Takamori after his battle with the Edo Shogun.
In Kagoshima, some similar named kakigà Âri are made. Kurokuma flavored with dark brown unrefined sugar syrup, coffee or caramel syrup and kiguma flavored with mango pulp syrup are made in some coffee shops.
Supermarkets in southern Kyushu, especially in Kagoshima City, Kagoshima, and mom-and-pop candy stores sell shirokuma as a popular product. Shirokuma are often eaten at Kagoshima fairs which are held in other prefectures. Shirokuma in cups are sold at convenience stores all over Japan. One of the brands found in stores, Marunaga Seika, received the Long Seller Award for their continuing work in enriching the Shirokuma distribution. The brand launched their Shirokuma product in 1972.
Ujikintoki (å®Âæ²»éÂÂæ or ãÂÂãÂÂãÂÂãÂÂã¨ãÂÂ) is a type of Kakigà Âri that is made from shaved ice, flavored green tea syrup, sweet bean paste (Azuki bean), mochi, and green tea ice cream (æ¹è¶ã¢ã¤ã¹ã¯ãªã¼ã , Matcha aisu kurëmu).
Ujikintoki is named after the small city of Uji, in Kyoto Prefecture, famous for its green tea and Sakata Kintoki, who is known as Kintarà  in Japanese folklore. Kintoki is the red bean paste that is named after Kintarà Â's face usually being depicted as red.
Yakigori (ç¼ãÂÂæ°·) is a type of Kakigà Âri where liquor, often brandy is poured on top and then lit on fire. Yakigori occasionally has caramel sauce, ice cream, strawberries, or pineapple on top.