Delicious pickled Taiwan fruit with beautiful snow-like shaved ice at Miaomiao's Hairy Persimmon Kaki Shaved Ice Tea

Just like Peter Pan who never grows old in Neverland, Miaomiao, the owner of Hana Ke Kaki (pronounced "Kaki") Shaved Ice Tea, is forever a 28-year-old girl in her dream shaved ice shop. "Using Taiwan fruit to make a bowl of shaved ice both delicious and beautiful, just looking at it puts you in a good mood." She says this happily, rotating the glass bowl under the shaved ice machine with her hand. The small space is filled with seasonal fruits and pickles she has made herself, like a stunning painting.

The forever-28-year-old girl boss left the design industry, all to fulfill the shaved ice dream in her heart

Arriving at Liming New Village in Nantun District, Taichung, Hana Ke Kaki Shaved Ice Tea sits elegantly beside a small alley and a park. Pull open the door and step inside, and the world within is worlds apart from the world outside. The world inside is so beautiful it feels like a dream, and the one who made that dream come true is Miaomiao, the smiling owner standing at the counter.

Miaomiao, whose real name is Hsiao Miaoyi, has a striking appearance and a brilliant smile. She was originally a designer and loved beautiful things since childhood. While working part-time at a coffee shop, she saw shaved ice being made for orders. "When the shaved ice takes shape, it looks as beautiful as falling snow. From that moment on, I fell in love with shaved ice."

From then on, she buried a shaved ice dream in her heart, and two years ago she decided to make that dream come true, hoping to live without regrets. When asked her age, she smiles mysteriously: "I am forever 28." To Miaomiao, 28 is the beautiful age when a woman still keeps her youthful energy while also having gained some experience. She hopes her shaved ice shop is the same way. "I named it Hana Ke because hana means flower, which is beautiful, and ke means many feelers that can extend outward."

Falling in love with fermentation and pickles: "There are simply too many Taiwan fruits to use up, and once you've tasted them, it's hard to forget."

Every bowl of shaved ice in the shop is connected to Taiwan fruit. Colorful glass jars along the wall hold all kinds of fruits, all Miaomiao's handiwork. She pickles seasonal fruits from all over Taiwan herself and places these fermentation jars in the shop, quietly waiting for time to brew good flavor.

Miaomiao recalls that when she opened the shop two years ago, she was still exploring her direction. "I kept thinking about what shaved ice should be paired with. Compared to common toppings, I prefer eating fruit." Later she went to the Cabbage Experimental Kitchen to learn fermentation and pickling from teacher Lisa, and from then on formally entered the world of fermentation.

Miaomiao chooses locally fresh, pesticide-free naturally farmed fruit for fermentation. Asked why she does not use imported fruits such as kiwi or blueberry, she laughs and says: "There are too many kinds of Taiwan fruit. There's simply no way to use them all, and the flavors are so wonderful that once you've tasted them, it's hard to forget." Miaomiao counts off the fruits in the shop, from Tainan pineapple to Pingtung dragon fruit to Qishan bananas, many of which are the result of her and fermentation teacher Lisa visiting production areas together and hunting for treasures.

Speaking of visiting production areas, Miaomiao says that at first she went out for walks with the fermentation teacher every week. "Usually we'd pick a destination and then just drive there, looking around along the way to see if there were any special shops or people." Now, during the shop's weekly day off, Miaomiao still goes to various production areas. "I often have unexpected encounters with special ingredients or artisans!"

Shaved ice that follows the seasons, a limited edition every month: you can taste shell ginger and red-fleshed plum

Along the wall inside the shop are glass jars of all sizes, filled with various fermented fruits. Miaomiao says the monthly shaved ice follows the fruit seasons. "Every bowl is a limited edition. Once the season passes, it's gone." She smiles, drizzles butterfly pea flower juice over the shaved ice, and takes out a piece of homemade salted lemon, adding it to the shaved ice.

On the day of the visit, Miaomiao was making shell ginger jam. "A friend brought it back from a production area, and I realized I didn't think I'd ever seen shell ginger jam." She removes the petals of shell ginger flowers one by one, then adds brown sugar and simmers over low heat. During the simmering, asked how she determines whether these pickles and sauces taste right for dishes, she says: "There is no fixed time or formula. You have to keep trying the current flavor."

Miaomiao picks up fruit from the shelf and explains: "The flavor of fruit actually isn't the same every year. It changes with that year's climate, temperature or rain, so the pickling method and waiting time are also different." After washing, adding sugar and salt, and putting them in jars to wait for fermentation, she needs to observe changes in color and flavor every week and make fine adjustments.

She adds the cooked shell ginger jam, along with red-fleshed plum and matcha, to the shaved ice. The bottom layer is bright green, the top layer is rosy red. A bowl of shaved ice looks delightful to the eye, and before even tasting it your mood turns colorful. Taking an eager bite, on your tongue you can taste the distinctive aroma of shell ginger, the sweet-and-sour texture of red-fleshed plum, and the tea fragrance of matcha, while the finely textured ice is refreshingly cool. A bowl in summer is just the thing to beat the heat!

An inspired touch: handmade fermented tofu with red beans, plus a market at the door on holidays

Besides shaved ice, Miaomiao also makes non-ice desserts. Recently she learned to make red yeast fermented tofu. She uses the red yeast fermented tofu in cooking and pairs it with a friend's handmade purple rice bagel, serving a fermented tofu red bean bagel. Bite into this novel combination and you can taste the fluffy yet chewy bread, the lightly sweet and dense Wandan red beans, and the fermented tofu tucked inside, whose saltiness and bean fragrance truly provide the finishing touch, elevating the overall flavor and making the whole