TEGE TEGE

I must say that this summer sure was hot and humid. But a positive from this weather was that it allowed me to discover a bunch of shave ice joints. Another one that I can add to the list is Tege Tege located in Kilauea, Kaua'i.

Tege Tege was started by a man named Eitaro, who is from Japan. He brought his hand crank shave ice machine (Hatsuyuki) from Japan to start up a shave ice truck that has a product similar to one in Amami, Japan where he is from.

Micah, Maka and I made the long drive out to Kilauea just for a taste of this shave ice. Since the shave ice is made from scratch with in season, organic ingredients, it does run out fast so we made sure to get there early. But not early enough since that was a long line by the time we got there. It was probably not our best idea to go on a Sunday afternoon.

The shave ice is made with a hand crank machine so each shave ice takes at least 4 minutes to make. But the workers take their time making sure each shave ice is made to perfection and every shave ice is made the exact same way. Consistency is key.

After waiting for about an hour, we got to the front of the line and finally ordered. We ordered a strawberry shave ice with condensed milk (a classic), passion fruit shave ice (Tege Tege popular item on the menu) and the green tea ice cream with homemade green tea ice cream, condensed milk and azuki beans (the special). All the shave ice offered at Tege Tege is between $6-$8 and comes in one size only. The shave ice was absolutely delicious. It is true that organic does taste better. It didn't taste like the sugary based syrups most places offer but instead you can taste the natural fruit flavor. I can't wait to go back and taste all the other flavors that they offer. We need a Tege Tege on Oahu.

xo. Laur