Shaved ice desserts are killer cool in the summer heat
Koko Kakigōri seems a little magical on approach, in particular when temps outside are north of 90. The tiny, clean-lined shop evokes a Narnian pathway that opens into cool. Not merely because of the elegant fluffs of ice they’re crafting in the small back room, but the way in which it’s presented.
As art.
To the left, shelves lined with handmade vessels beckon. Choose the one that speaks to you and the team here will top it with enchanted snow, expertly shaved and shaped, steeped in scratch-made flavors, hiding hidden treasures, powerfully sensual.
Kakigōri, say historians, is the original shaved ice dessert, with its first mention dating back to 9th Century Japan. Its descendants — like Korean bingsu or Filipino halo-halo, perhaps most notably Hawaiian shave ice — speak forcefully to our love of cool, sweet treats. For Koko owners, Orlando natives Hiep Nguyen and Tammy Truong, Vietnamese versions like chè ba màu (“it translates to ‘dessert with three colors,'” says Nguyen, “you might find it at a few pho spots in town”) figure into the mix, as well.
He and his business partner, Tammy Truong, met some time ago. Both worked in hospitality, but Truong, an artist, inspired her new friend to delve into his creative side as well. Nguyen took up ceramics, buying the clay and wheel and then immersing himself in the art. Before long, Truong, too, began making her own pieces. Eventually, they decided to go into business.
“Art was part of the vision from the beginning,” he says. “When we saw Japanese shave ice, it was like a blank canvas. It’s so beautiful, and you can be so creative with it … It also came very naturally because we could create shaved ice the way we want to eat it, which is mostly very healthy.”
Flavors like ube coconut, matcha milk and peach lemon showcase syrups and jellies made in house and fruit that’s fresh and seasonal.
I couldn’t decide on my visit and asked Nguyen for direction.
“Which one speaks most to you naturally?” he queried.
And so, I went for the black sesame coconut, which happens to be among their vegan offerings.
Laden with sesame paste, it is evocative of halvah, a rich flavor that melds beautifully with black tea syrup. Inside, bits of cherry jelly and fresh banana. On top, toasted coconut. All of it is a part of a delicate globe, hand-shaped to order. The raging heat will make short work of it and so a straw aids in its consumption, making it a dessert you both eat and drink.
“The melting allows for a bit of a cereal-milk effect,” says Nguyen, and he’s spot-on.
It is lovely and refreshing on both the eyes and the palate in the shade of the bodhi tree outside.
The shop opened in October, though, and went through its cold season first. There’s no need for straws when temperatures dip. Instead, staffers serve customers hot tea before they enjoy their kakigori.
Nguyen and Truong did their research and development in Japan, taking cues from the many ice shops, then making a version that’s uniquely theirs. The shop’s design and its branding is all Truong, the craftsmanship in the ice a team effort.
“Some people hear ‘shaved ice,’ and they think ‘snow cone,'” Nguyen laughs. To compare what you’d get off the ice cream truck to Koko’s offerings is preposterous, but they are certainly cousins.
“The water is a medium,” he says. “It’s about understanding the temperatures, whether the ice is hard or soft. Shaping it. Compacting it. It’s a lot of learning.”
These are lessons you’ll likely long for, steadily, until our near-endless summer finally ends. But shop hours vary, so check their schedule online before heading over to chill in this most chill of places.
Koko Kakigori: 620 N. Thornton Ave. in Orlando, kokokakigori.com; instagram.com/koko_kakigori
Gola, Bombay Street Kitchen
Amit Kumar, chef/owner of Bombay Street Kitchen, tips a hat to Japan before discussing gola, an Indian ice treat that, being almost exclusively a street food, begged for inclusion on his restaurant’s Michelin-recognized menu.
“When it reached Mumbai, the first city to get a glimpse of shaved ice, it was really just for rich people, but later on, as they started to develop different kinds of shaving machines, it became more accessible to other people. And because in India we have so much fruit, different syrups developed, and it really took off because the city is in such a hot climate.”
At Bombay Street Kitchen, the “gola station” features three flavors: kala khatta, a deep, red-brown color with the flavors of Indian blackberry (jamun, or Java plum) and black salt’ kachi keri margarita, a combination of virgin margarita and raw mango and the colaba beach mix, which melds mango, orange and coconut.
Back in the day, syrups developed based on availability, he says.
“They began using all the local fruits, incorporating salt and sugar and even spices, like cumin and black pepper. From Bombay (Mumbai), the most famous of all the metropolitan cities, it spread. It is famous in the beach areas and in Delhi, as well. In places, there is more Mediterranean influences, so you will see condensed milk, vermicelli, rose syrup, and other things. Every village began making its own version, and that’s why there are so many varieties of gola in India.”
Not many Indian restaurants do gola, says Kumar, and it was, at first, a hard sell to customers unfamiliar.
“But little by little, the people who knew it would get it and other people see it, and now we have many people who order it,” he says, noting that in Mumbai, the street food features influences from all over the country.
“If you go there in the summertime, gola is a ‘must’ item and 100 percent a street food. How could we not have it here? On any beach you go to hang out or shopping in the streets in the summertime, you will find it. But almost never in any restaurant. So it fits very well here.”
Bombay Street Kitchen: 6215 S. Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando, 407-240-5151; bombaykitchenorlando.com
Pop into M&M Philippine Market on Colonial Drive for groceries and frozen delights, including halo-halo. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)
Halo-Halo, M&M Philippine Mart
I ran a little over five miles on the morning of Memorial Day, which is a longer-than-usual one for me, but I do that from time to time. On this morning, though, there was an extra reason for it: halo-halo. I wanted one. A little extra calorie burn ahead of time wouldn’t hurt.
It was a holiday, but they were open.
“We’re closing at 2, though,” the guy on the phone said.
No problem.
A nice long run. A shower. I was in the car around 12:30 or so and pulled into the lot of this unassuming little strip mall on East Colonial with plenty of time. It’s a small market, with loads of groceries from the Philippines on the shelves and in the fridges and freezers. From canned sardines to fresh-frozen hopia ube, there’s temptation everywhere, but today, mine centered on the small ice cream counter. On busier days, it’s tended, but on this one, there was just one guy working.
Once finished ringing up a customer, he hopped behind the counter.
“What can I get you?”
“Halo-halo, please.”
“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh,” he said, and my heart sunk for whatever was to come next. “We’re out of ube ice cream.”
There was a little in the bottom of the tub in the reach-in. I looked at it longingly.
“I’ve tried to scrape that. It’s too hard.”
“I ran five miles for this!” I joked. But then an idea hit me. I’d bought a half-gallon of queso ice cream here in the past.
“What if I bought some? Would you make it for me?”
He looked surprised but was willing.
“You know,” he told me as he layered this wonderful dessert — its name means “mix-mix” in tagalog — with goodies, “I’ve wanted to tell people to buy one when this has happened in the past, but I never thought anyone would do it.”
Apparently, no one wanted one as badly as I did.
These tall, colorful delights are a shave-ice amusement park and just about everyplace makes them a little different. M&M’s ($9) featured jellies and macapuno and mango amid layers of sweet condensed milk and ice, with sweet beans at the bottom. Ube ice cream — and a scoop of pandan, too — rounded out the experience. On top, for crunch, a mound of Frosted Flakes cereal.
Halo-halo is great that way, each time you get it at a different place. Because you know what you’re going to get, but also, you don’t. Familiar, but always little surprises.
On this day, mine came with an extra half gallon of ice cream that the clerk packed in ice for the drive home. I’m going to have to run a few more miles for that, but it’ll be worth it.
M&M Philippine Mart: 7339 E. Colonial Drive in Orlando, 407-281-6999
Bingsu, SnowBean Cafe
Dessert requests are not uncommon in my house, whether that means the kiddo is looking to make something and we’re missing one ingredient or, as on this occasion, we’re out with one of her friends, just finishing up dinner and the mood strikes.
On this night, the force for bingsu was strong, despite the fact that we’d put away an inordinate amount of sushi down near I-Drive, even for us.
“Can we get SnowBean?” she asked.
I was stuffed. I mean, stuffed. But her bestie had never had bingsu, and the patio of this Orlando cafe — a cute spot for coffees and Korean desserts — has an alluring lakeside location and love-lock laden fence (like those bridges in Paris, except totally not a bridge or in Paris), and I’m an easy touch when it comes to food requests, so we went.
My favorites here are the ones that include red bean paste — in which case they’re called “patbingsu.” The Snowbean, with its nutty bean powder, is a go-to. The girls went a little fruitier with the strawberry bomb and mango cheesecake flavors, but here, you are more than welcome to customize.
The research is all over the place, but most sources have bingsu appearing in Korea in the late 14th Century. In Orlando, more specifically at SnowBean, it appears most often after gorging on AYCE Korean barbecue next door at Izziban.
Snowbean Cafe: 5310 E. Colonial Drive in Orlando, 407-270-8811; .izzibansushibbq.com/snowbeancafe-menu
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