Friday, August 7, 2009

Hawaii Sweets~Shimazu Shave Ice and Fujiya

Continuing on with our "food extravaganza" we checked out Shimazu's Store for some shave ice. I had never been there before, but Alan from Makiki suggested it. Oh and what a treat it was! The shave ice there is huge and cheap! Plus Shimazu's Store is a much shorter drive from my house than Matsumoto's (North Shore side) or Waiola's (Kapahulu).
Now Shimazu Store will always be on my list of places I want to frequent when I'm back home in Hawaii. I actually might like it better than Waiola's, but it's probably because of the price and size differences of the shave ice.

Look at all the syrup choices!

I am a "shave ice purist" and you will rarely see me order any other flavor besides strawberry or strawberry creme. I never liked to mix flavors or *gasp* so you would never see me ordering the rainbow flavor. Mike loves mixing flavors, but for me, I like enjoying the same flavor from start to finish. I do not enjoy the uncertainty of the mixed flavors at the end of the cup.
But since there were soooo many choices of syrups, that I tried not one, not two, but THREE flavors. But I figured that vanilla, peanut butter, and chocolate were complimentary flavors. It wasn't like I had chosen tutti fruit, root beer, and sour lemon.
D ordered the strawberry creme and vanilla creme. I actually prefered his flavor combination better than mine (my combo was delicious too) and wanted to snatch it from his hands. But would it be worth it, for the sake of our friendship? Probably not.
My only complaint about Shimazu's store is that it is not always open when the sign says it's open. Only on my third attempt was I able to indulge in this snowy goodness. One of the attempts was my fault because I didn't realize they were closed on Mondays. But I checked it out on a Sunday and there were a couple other people who parked and then drove away because it wasn't open.
We then moved on to find the place that makes fresh yuba (tofu skin). They were not making the yuba on the day we showed up, but you can call Fujiya in advance to see if they are making it and can watch the process.
We purchased some freshly made tofu, soy milk, senbei, and mochi. The tofu was delicious! It was extremely delicate in texture and had a mild soy flavor. Here's one of the mochi that I purhcased. I've seen strawberries in mochi mochi, pumpkin, and peanut butter fillings before, but I've never had a mochi filled with blueberries. I though the lima bean paste was a bit too sweet for my tastes, but I was super-stoked about the concept. I think I'll try to make a blueberry-filled mochi some day and experiment with the complimentary filling. Fujiya also sells manju or mochi filled with azuki beans, strawberries, and if I remember correctly raspberries.

Shimazu Store
330 N School St.
Honolulu, HI 96817

Fujiya Ltd.
454 Waiakamilo Rd.
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808)845-2921

5 comments:

K and S said...

he recommended that shave ice place on my blog too, will have to check it out next year :)

Razzie said...

have you tried the "Hawaiian" ice on Neil yet? We should go when I get back, you can only get two flavors together, but it was pretty good. The guy mixes his own syrups with base flavors, apparently they have a banana cream pie that tastes amazing and sells out always. So yea we should try it.

Anonymous said...

Glad you could try the Shave Ice and congrats on the 1 year anniversary!

Alan from Makiki

Lori said...

GREAT post Lauren! I haven't been to Shimazu Store in a while, but now I have that craving to go back again - and soon! :) Also, thanks for the yuba tip. I've been trying to find it in Hawaii with no luck. I thought I was going to have to wait until I go back to Japan to have some!

genkitummy said...

hey everyone. yes, shimazu's is a mus try place. alan from makiki was spot on when he recommended that place.
razzie-maybe we can go there on friday prior to our sam's club shopping trip.
lori-about the yuba, i would call ahead to make sure they have it that day or place an order b/c when we were there, fujiya did not have any yuba to purchase.