Ise Matcha Shaved Ice (赤福氷, Akafuku-gōri)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Kakigōri shaver, hand-cranked or electric
• •Seiro steamer or lidded pot with a rack; a microwave-safe bowl works for the mochi if needed
• •Fine tea sieve and chasen, or a small whisk
• •Chilled dessert bowls

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the ice

   Use a block of filtered-water ice if your shaver takes one, or firm cubes if it doesn't. Keep the ice very cold, then let a solid block stand at room temperature for five minutes before shaving, just until the surface loses its glassy hardness. Ice that is too brittle chips into grit; ice tempered at the surface shaves into soft flakes.

2. 2

   Make matcha syrup

   Warm the water, sugar, and salt in a small pan, stirring until the syrup turns clear. Take it off the heat and wait one minute, until the surface is still. Sift the matcha into a bowl and whisk in a few spoonfuls of hot syrup to make a smooth paste, then whisk that paste back into the pan. Strain and chill until fully cold. Boiling matcha makes the green dull and the bitterness coarse; warming the sugar first dissolves it without punishing the tea.

   Taste the syrup after it chills. It should be a little stronger and sweeter than you'd want to drink, because shaved ice dilutes everything it touches.
3. 3

   Steam the mochi

   If you are using Akafuku mochi, skip this step and the next; use the shop's pieces the day you buy them. For homemade cold-soft mochi, combine the shiratamako and sugar in a heatproof bowl. Add the water a little at a time, pressing the grains smooth with a spatula, because shiratamako hides dry pearls if you rush it. Stir in the mizuame if using. Set the bowl in a steamer and steam 12 to 14 minutes, stirring once, until the dough turns glossy, translucent, and pulls into one elastic mass. The sugar and syrup keep the mochi tender under ice, which ordinary hard mochi refuses to do.

   No steamer? Cover the bowl loosely and microwave for 1 minute, stir hard, then microwave in 30-second bursts until glossy and elastic. Watch the texture, not the clock.
4. 4

   Cut the mochi

   Dust a tray with potato starch and scrape the hot mochi onto it. Dust the top lightly, pat it into a slab about 1/2 inch thick, and let it cool just until you can handle it. Cut it into 12 small pieces and brush away the extra starch. Too much starch clouds the ice, and large pieces fight the spoon. Small is kinder.

5. 5

   Set the filling

   Chill four bowls until cold to the touch. Divide the koshi-an among them in low mounds, then tuck three mochi pieces around each mound. If using Akafuku mochi, set two pieces in the bottom of each bowl instead. Keep the filling low and centered, because the pleasure of Akafuku-gōri is hidden at the bottom, not paraded on top.

6. 6

   Shave the ice

   Shave the ice directly over each bowl, turning the bowl as you work, until you have a loose dome. Don't press it down. Packed ice melts hard and sends the syrup running off the sides; loose flakes catch the matcha and stay snowy.

7. 7

   Pour and serve

   Spoon 3 to 4 tablespoons of cold matcha syrup slowly over each mound, letting it fall in narrow ribbons from the top and down one side. Serve at once with a long spoon. The first bite should be cold and green, the last one sweet with red bean and rice cake. Reach to the bottom for the prize.

Chef Tips

• •The true Akafuku bowl belongs to the shop in Ise. If you have their mochi, use it the day you buy it and tuck two pieces under each bowl. If you don't, make the gyūhi-style mochi here and use good koshi-an. That's an honest stand-in, not a costume.
• •Buy matcha that smells green and clean, not dusty. The syrup is only sugar, tea, and water, so stale tea has nowhere to hide.
• •Use a kakigōri shaver if you can. A blender makes pebbly ice; acceptable on a hot day, but it won't give the soft snow that takes syrup properly.
• •Cut the mochi smaller than pride suggests, especially for children or older guests. Cold sweets should lift cleanly on a spoon.

Advance Preparation

• •Freeze the block ice the night before if your shaver uses one. Temper it for five minutes before shaving so it cuts into flakes, not chips.
• •The matcha syrup keeps for three days refrigerated. Stir or strain it before using, because fine tea settles as it rests.
• •The mochi is best the day it is made. Keep it covered at cool room temperature for up to six hours; the refrigerator firms it too much.
• •Koshi-an can be portioned into the bowls a day ahead and covered in the refrigerator. Add mochi and ice only at the last moment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 560g)