Pineapple Li Hing Mui Shave Ice

Li Hing Mui is an acquired taste. It is a Hawaiian confection of salty dried plums which have be crushed to a powder and added to sugar. Hawaiians put Li Hing Mui on almost anything! When I was living in Hawaii, one of my favorite ways to have it was on fresh pineapple. The sweetness of the pineapple is brought out and creates a wonderful contrast to the saltiness of the Li Hing Mui. My cousin Ruthe, who used to live on Maui, made a Shokubi request for "something Li Hing Mui". Well, here you go Cousin Ruthe!



I have a confession to make to my Shokubi Readers! Disaster struck with this recipe! Well, maybe not a disaster, but it didn't turn out how I wanted it to! I was intending to make a beautiful soft sorbet, but it turned into this super rock hard chunk of ice. It tastes really good, but you will almost break your spoon trying to eat it. I had to scrape the edge of a spoon to get it out of the container! It turned into more of a Granita or shave ice than a sorbet!

I got a KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker attachment for my KitchenAid mixer a few months back for our wedding. I was dying to try it out, but had to wait until after the wedding...no need for extra calories or pounds.

I tried this recipe two times--once with this Pineapple Li Hing Mui granita, and the next day with Mint-Pineapple granita. Both times, I was aiming for a sorbet, but fell far from the mark. The taste was good, but both times it came out super hard.

I am still experimenting with it. A few plausible theories I have as to why it didn't come out right:

1. I didn't have enough sugar in the mix. At the time, I was thinking that because the Li Hing Mui was essentially sugar with licorice flavoring,  and the pineapple had natural sugars in it,  that this would be enough sweetness. I had tasted the mixture before freezing and after freezing, and it was plenty sweet. I had added only 2 tablespoons of sugar to this dish. By contrast, when I was making a Lemongrass Mint sorbet a few months back, I had added 1.5 cups of sugar to 1 cup of water.

So for the same volume of liquid, 1.5 cups of sugar is going to give you a very soft sorbet, and 2 tablespoons is going to give you a very hard granita. The hypothesis I am arriving at is that the sugar is providing a textural element as well, making it softer somehow. Perhaps the sugar is prevents the liquid element from forming ice crystals, making it softer.

2. I didn't seep or boil the liquid.  When I made a Lemongrass Mint sorbet a few months back, I had seeped the flavor elements (mint and lemongrass) in boiling water with sugar for 20 minutes. This allowed the flavor to infuse into the liquid. Obviously, the heat released some natural oils in the lemongrass, and possibly the mint. Maybe by heating the liquid and then adding the sugar, the sugar dissolved into the mixture, changing itself structurally. Any chemists out there who can help me confirm this hypothesis?

3. The pineapple is making the dish too chunky. Somehow the pineapple is interfering with the formation of ice crystals, making the whole thing hard. I don't know the science behind this...Any readers out there chemists? I am experimenting with blending the pineapple in the food processor, then squeezing out the liquid with a cheesecloth. This will impart the flavor of pineapple. Then after everything has gone through the ice cream maker, I add back in a few spoonfuls of the pineapple.

In any event, I found that if I let this granita sit outside the freezer for about 5-8 minutes, the ice crystals loosen up and it is easier to spoon out. Either way, it tastes good.

I will first write how I made this granita, then follow it up with how I would do it a second time.

This granita, as it is, also works wonders as a base for mixed drinks. Like a Li Hing Mui Mojito!

Ingredients Initial Run (what I did)
1 Fresh Pineapple, cut into cubes (about 3 1/4 cups)
Li Hing Mui Powder, 2 tablespoons

Procedure: Initial Run
Place your ice cream maker's bowl and paddle,  in the freezer and let it freeze completely (at least 24 hours).

Cut your pineapple into cubes, as outlined in my blog post Cutting a Pineapple. Cut and remove the core. You can either toss the core or makes something else with it. I place my cores in a glass jar with vodka and make pineapple infused vodka!

Add the pineapple cubes to your food processor and blend until smooth. Add the Li Hing Mui powder. Blend again until the Li Hing Mui Powder is mixed thoroughly. Taste. Add more Li Hing Mui powder until you get a flavor profile you enjoy. The whole mixture should look orange.

Set up the Ice cream bowl and paddle on your KitchenAid (see my blog post Lemongrass Granita to learn how to set up your KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker).

Pour the Pineapple & Li Hing Mui mixture into the bowl. Churn for 7-12 minutes on speed 1. Remove and pour into a plastic container. Freeze.













2nd Run
Ingredients 2nd Run
1 Fresh Pineapple, cut into cubes (about 3 1/4 cups)
1.5 cups sugar
1 cup of boiling water
Li Hing Mui Powder, 2 tablespoons

Procedure: 2nd Run
Place your ice cream maker's bowl and paddle in the freezer and let it freeze completely (at least 24 hours).

Cut your pineapple into cubes, as outlined in my blog post Cutting a Pineapple. Cut and remove the core. You can either toss the core or makes something else with it. I place my cores in a glass jar with vodka and make pineapple infused vodka!

Add the pineapple cubes to your food processor and blend until smooth. In a separate bowl, add sugar and boiling water. Stir till the sugar is dissolved. Add the pineapple and give it a good stir again. Place a kitchen towel over the mixture and let seep for 20 minutes.

Strain the mixture through a fine sieve or cheesecloth. Discard the solids or place the solids in a glass jar of vodka to seep for flavored vodka.

Add the Li Hing Mui powder to the liquid.

Take the liquid and run it through an Ice Cream maker as outlined above.

3rd Run
Ingredients 3rd Run
1 Fresh Pineapple, cut into cubes (about 3 1/4 cups)
3 cups sugar
1 cup of boiling water
Li Hing Mui Powder, 4 tablespoons

Procedure: 3rd Run
Place your ice cream maker's bowl and paddle in the freezer and let it freeze completely (at least 24 hours).

Cut your pineapple into cubes, as outlined in my blog post Cutting a Pineapple. Cut and remove the core. You can either toss the core or makes something else with it. I place my cores in a glass jar with vodka and make pineapple infused vodka!

Add sugar and the pineapple to a large bowl. With your hands or a large pestle, squish the pineapple into the sugar, breaking up the pineapple and releasing some of its juices. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes, allowing the pineapple to release some of its juices. Add the boiling water. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Cover with a kitchen towel and let seep for 20 minutes or until cool.

Strain the mixture with a cheesecloth, separating the solids from the liquids. Add the Li Hing Mui Powder to the liquid part and stir to incorporate. Place the liquid portion into the refrigerator. Discard the solids or place in a glass jar with vodka.

Cool the mixture and run through an ice cream maker, as outlined above.

I am tempted to say the third one will give the best consistency in terms of texture, but it will have the most sugar! Shokubi Readers, why don't your try making a batch and let me know how it turns out! Either post on my blog (see bottom of the page) or give me a holler on my Twitter account.

Happy cooking! (And eating!!)

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