Enjoy Shaved Ice, Haleiwa Style: One of the Most Famous Hawaiian Snacks

The gateway to the North Shore is Haleiwa. It is home of some of the greatest and not to mention largest surf in the world. It is the home of many world champion surfers as well. Let me tell you as a local: You can tell who the tourists are. And trust me, if you think you are cool and can get away with it, you can't; we all know.

There are many things to enjoy in Haleiwa, one of the most popular are shaved ice stands. There used to be three storefronts that garnered most of the attention. They are Aoki's and Matsumoto's, the third was Miura's, but has since shut down.

Truthfully they are all the same, just many flock to Matsumoto's. It is world famous and I believe it is more popular because they have a bigger parking lot. There are tons of flavors to choose from and it can be quite confusing if you don't know what the local fare is like. There are flavors like lilikoi or li hing mui. You can get Azuki beans as well in your shaved ice, but I will get to that in a minute.

Don't go and stand in the longer lines because you think it is better, go find the shorter one, which can usually be found at Aoki's. I swear to you that they are the same. Some lie long residents of Haleiwa may disagree, but I have been getting shaved ice there since I was a little kid and they all taste the same.

So when you first order, they will ask you if you want ice cream and beans in your shaved ice. What they do is put ice cream and/or beans at the bottom of the cup then add the ice and flavoring. Trust me - get it with ice cream, it is SO much better and tastier. You can also add Azuki beans, which is a sweet Japanese bean. It is pretty good, but if you are not a bean person then you can skip it.

Now there are flavors like Lilikoi, don't be intimidated. It is just a really sweet passion fruit, very awesome taste. You can also get what is known as Li Hing Mui. It is a sweet and sour sort of taste. A lot of fruits and snacks in Hawaii have li hing mui powder sprinkled on it like gummy bears or sour kids. If you have ever been to the southwest and had tamarind or tamarind candy then you can get an idea of the taste.

If all else fails just ask the people behind the counter what it tastes like and they can describe it to you. Shaved ice is a must do if you are in Haleiwa. Once you have it, all other shaved ice or "snow cones" won't measure up.