Shirokuma (kakigōri)

Kakigōri

Kakigōri with green tea flavor
Type	Shaved ice
Course	Dessert
Place of origin	Japan
Main ingredients	Ice, syrup, condensed milk or evaporated milk
Variations	Shirokuma

Shirokuma

Type	Kakigōri
Course	Dessert
Place of origin	Japan
Region or state	Kagoshima prefecture
Main ingredients	Ice, condensed milk

Kakigōri (かき氷) is a Japanese shaved ice dessert flavored with syrup and a sweetener, often condensed milk.

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 different syrups. To sweeten kakigōri, condensed or evaporated milk is often poured on top of it. 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 traditional way of making kakigōri uses a hand cranked machine to spin a block of ice over an ice shaving blade. Even though electric ice shavers are most often used, street vendors can still be seen hand-shaving ice blocks in the summer.

In addition to the streets, kakigōri is sold in festivals, convenience stores, coffee shops, and restaurants. During the hot summer months, kakigōri is sold virtually everywhere in Japan. Especially at summer festivals and fairs, it is as popular as yakisoba, takoyaki and cotton candy. Kakigôri is one of the summer features in Japan. Some shops serve it with ice cream and sweetened red beans or tapioca pearls.

Shirokuma (白熊 or しろくま) is a type of kakigōri, a Japanese dessert made from shaved ice flavored with condensed milk, small colorful mochi, fruits, and sweet bean paste (usually Azuki bean). As for fruits, mandarin orange, cherry, pineapple, raisin are often used to make shirokuma.