Shave ice is as strongly associated with Hawaii as poi, and much more favorably regarded. Shave ice is the sophisticated sister of the snow cone, trading clunky crushed ice for delicate flakes shaved from a block, a difference that makes a surprisingly huge improvement on the experience. While you can track down some similar stuff on the mainland, particularly in various Little Tokyos, I've never been to a place offering as many varieties and flavors, or such finely shaved ice as the ones we went to in Kauai. This stuff was fluffy in the extreme, even soaked in syrup. For the minimalist, there is the purity of single-flavor ice, but I happen to prefer the whole shebang - three flavored syrups, with a lump of rich ice cream waiting underneath to soak up the disintegrating dregs of brightly colored ice.

My favorite was probably guava, passion fruit and pineapple over macadamia nut ice cream, and another group pick was coconut over macadamia nut ice cream with coconut flakes and coconut cream, but the most interesting choice was the halo halo shave ice, which includes a mix of beans, jelly and fruit under the ice. Jo Jo's Shave Ice in Waimea makes a halo halo shave ice with a mix that includes red beans, yam jellies, coconut strips and sundry fruit and jelly items, which is topped with coconut cream, shaved ice, coconut syrup and more coconut cream.

This particular variety of shave ice is a treat with a long lineage. According to Wikipedia, halo halo means "mix mix" in Tagalog, and in the Philippines it refers to a dessert of shaved ice and milk topped with a wide variety of fruits, beans, grains, kitchen sinks, gelatins, creams and/or custards. My understanding is that shave ice found its way to Hawaii via Japan, where shave ice is often topped with red beans, nata de coco and condensed milk. Jo Jo's halo halo shave ice looks like it was also influenced by Thai shave ice, which offers a huge variety of additions, but places them under the ice, unlike Japanese or Filipino versions.