Asian (Taiwan style) Shaved Ice in Chicago Area?

We tried the shaved ice at Penang today after eating some lovely hot food at LSC. It was the first time we'd really tried shaved ice in the states besides making our own. I was wondering if there was any place to get shaved ice like the stuff you can get in Taiwan. Shaved ice, a little syrup and then picking your own toppings such as red beans, green beans, cooked pineapple, grass jelly, tapioca, corn, a kind of chewy dough made from taro or yam and maybe eagle brand on top. The stuff at Penang was the closest I'd seen - but I was wondering if there were any other places where you could order a la carte as opposed to having a lot of sweet syrup and a lot of different stuff. It was really good though especially after some spicy food.
Thanks to anyone who has any suggestions.
-Kinsey

no.

you can ask the nice folks @ KS Seafood to set up a shaved ice machine... or try Di Ho's food stalls mentioned here

good luck; i'm off to Pa PA Walk for their gigantic bowl of mango shaved ice later tonite.

TonyC wrote:no.

you can ask the nice folks @ KS Seafood to set up a shaved ice machine...

KS had shaved ice desserts the last time I was there. They weren't on the menu but were promoted on table cards.

KS Seafood
2163 S. China Place, Chicago
(312) 842-1238

I have had red bean bing (shaved ice, ice cream, mochi, fruit cocktail, red bean) and strawberry bing (shaved ice, ice cream, mochi, strawberries, special syrup) at Coffee Haus in Schaumburg. Does that sound similar to what you had? They have different fruit varieties.

Coffee Haus
209 Golf Rd
Schaumburg, IL
847-755-1233

Sticky Rice has a handwritten notice advertising their special "Thai ice dessert," but I couldn't tell you what that consists of. I can't seem to make it past the sticky rice with durian

What about Aloha Grill on Clark St.? I don't know if they have it or not, but any Hawaiian place worth it's salt probaby would.

You may want to try a similar concotion at the Filipino restaurants in the area -
halo-halo
From wikipedia - "There is no specific recipe for this dessert, and a wide variety of ingredients are used. The order in which the ingredients are added varies widely, but generally it is mixed together prior to serving. Primary ingredients include red mung beans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, sugar palm fruit (kaong), coconut sport (macapuno), and plantains. Other components may include jackfruit (langka), star apple, tapioca or sago, nata de coco, purple yam (ube) or sweet potato (kamote), sweetened corn kernels or pounded crushed rice (pinipig), flan or custard, and gelatin. Other fruits, such as papayas, avocados, kiwifruit, bananas, or cherries, may also be added. Some preparations also include ice cream on top of the halo-halo."

Some places offhand are:

La Filipiniana
9060 W Golf Rd
Niles, IL 60714
(847) 298-9332
http://www.filipiniananiles.com/

Mariegold Bakery
5752 N California Ave
Chicago, IL 60659
(773) 561-1978

Mom's Bake Shop
2415 W Peterson Ave
Chicago, IL 60659
(773) 784-1318

Pucca wrote:I have had red bean bing (shaved ice, ice cream, mochi, fruit cocktail, red bean) and strawberry bing (shaved ice, ice cream, mochi, strawberries, special syrup) at Coffee Haus in Schaumburg. Does that sound similar to what you had? They have different fruit varieties.

Coffee Haus
209 Golf Rd
Schaumburg, IL
847-755-1233

i believe coffee haus offers the korean version of shaved ice. not sure what the differences are, i'm pretty sure they're both cold.

delraz wrote:You may want to try a similar concotion at the Filipino restaurants in the area -
halo-halo

Beat me to it! Cid's Ma Mon Luk in Niles also has halo-halo with "white beans, red beans, jackfruit, nata de coco, gulaman w/ ube, ice cream and leche plan on top."

Cid's Ma Mon Luk
9182 West Golf Rd.
Niles
847.803.3652

The Outdoor Cafe on Bryn Mawr by Kedzie serves Bing Soo, which is a Korean version of shaved ice dessert. I travel all the way there from Bridgeport just to get it.

I really must insist TW shaved ice is a completely beast from halo halo and bing soo.

IMO, Korean bing soo have not involved into a complex art as TW ice (mostly still stuck on red bean paste) and halo halo just taste like a slightly improved snow cone.

as they say, picture is worth a few words:

mango shaved ice "Mountain" at "Pa Pa Walk"

Ok, this is a bit old, but being Taiwanese... i thought i'd chime in.

I'm not sure where you're getting your bing soo and halo halo... while different, they are equally as complex (in fact that picture, while large, looks pretty basic to me). I have not found a Taiwanese/Chinese shaved ice place (haven't actually looked that hard) but I did want to mention a couple other places.

As sinos said, for Ba Bing Soo, you may want to check out Korean owned Outdoor Cafe which has a strawberry bing soo with fruit cocktail, mochi, strawberries, red bean, jelly, soy powder and syrup.
New Outdoor Cafe
3257 W Bryn Mawr Ave
Chicago, IL 60659
(773) 539-6078

For Halo Halo, check out Philippino owned Village Creamery. You can also check out their ice creams including a halo halo flavor, durian, pandan, queso and corn as well as other exotic flavors.
Village Creamery
8000 N Waukegan Rd
Niles, IL 60714
(847) 965-9805


Also, I know that Joy Yee's has shaved ice, though I've never seen anyone ever order it... I just get boba there...

This thread speaks straight to my soul - I was so dismayed to find there was no shaved ice in Chicago!

If anyone finds some, its supposed to look like this:

mango and red bean


"Eight Happiness" (or "Eight Treasures", I forget which)


build-your-own


build-your-own


While I was in Taiwan, my mom took me to this place next to National Taiwan University where she used to get shaved ice in college. They've since jacked up their prices (200nt divided by 30 to get US dollars) and switched over to a new-fangled ice-spewer machine (resembles a snow-cone machine, as opposed to the traditional ice-shaver, which takes a block of ice and forces it into a whirling blade by means of a giant screw). Another place, in the Shida night market, used the traditional machines, and had 2 buffets of various "condiments". One buffet contained the typical tapioca pearls, sweetened beans, aiyu jelly, etc, while the other had various thin fruit preserves, sprinkles, and other randoms. With bowl in hand, you take a sampling of the various ingredients offered, which would be weighed and then piled atop a small mountain of shaved ice, with or without condensed milk depending on your preference. This usually came up to about 50nt for a hefty portion, pretty typical for night-market fare (incredibly good, incredibly cheap).

Also, in Taiwanese night markets, they often used ice made with milk instead of water, which gives the ice a wonderfully creamy texture. I would love to find this in Chicago!!