Reviewed by: Takahiro Sugiyama (CEO, meguri Inc.)
Matcha kakigori (Japanese shaved ice with matcha syrup) is a summer dessert that shows off the green of matcha. On the other hand, shaved ice soon loses its shape, the syrup is absorbed into the ice and becomes diluted, and in shops in hot countries the ice melts even faster. This guide compares recipes published by Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and tea companies to see how much matcha goes into one serving, then covers syrup, toppings, ice and hygiene rules in the order you need them to serve it in a shop.
What are matcha kakigori and Uji kintoki?
Matcha kakigori is shaved ice with matcha syrup poured over it, and the version topped with ogura-an (sweet red bean paste) is called Uji kintoki. Some shops call the version with condensed milk added “matcha milk kintoki”.
Uji kintoki is a regional dish of Kyoto
MAFF’s “Our Regional Cuisines” lists Uji kintoki as a regional dish of Kyoto Prefecture, and describes shaved ice topped with ogura-an and matcha syrup as a standard matcha sweet. Restaurants sell it all year round, and it is especially popular in summer. Quite a few shops pile on shiratama (small rice-flour dumplings), ice cream or matcha jelly to make it look like a parfait.
What the MAFF page says (summary):
| Point | MAFF’s description |
|---|---|
| What it is | Shaved ice topped with ogura-an and matcha syrup; a standard matcha sweet |
| When it is eaten | Sold all year at cafés and restaurants, but especially popular in summer |
| How shops serve it | Quite a few shops add shiratama, ice cream or matcha jelly to make it look like a parfait |
| Uji tea | Many restaurants across Japan serve it, but quite a few do not use Uji tea |
Source: MAFF, “うちの郷土料理 宇治金時 京都府” (Our Regional Cuisines: Uji kintoki, Kyoto Prefecture, in Japanese) https://www.maff.go.jp/j/keikaku/syokubunka/k_ryouri/search_menu/menu/ujikintoki_kyoto.html
The same page says many restaurants across Japan serve Uji kintoki, but quite a few of them do not use Uji tea. If you put “Uji” on your menu, check with your supplier where the matcha you use was finished. The definition of Uji matcha is covered in What Is Uji Matcha?.
A short history of kakigori
According to the Japanese government’s public relations site, “kezurihi” (shaved ice) in Sei Shonagon’s The Pillow Book is the oldest shaved ice confirmed in surviving records. At the time, only the privileged class could eat it. Shaved ice became widely eaten from the Meiji era (1868 to 1912) onward, when machine-made ice and ice-shaving machines spread.
How it compares with shaved ice in other countries
Hot countries have their own shaved ice desserts. Here are the names and the definitions in each country’s official dictionary.
| Name | Country | Official dictionary definition |
|---|---|---|
| 팥빙수 (patbingsu) | South Korea | Food made by finely grinding a block of ice like snow and adding boiled red beans, condensed milk and so on (National Institute of Korean Language) |
| น้ำแข็งไส (nam khaeng sai) | Thailand | Ice in fine flakes, made by running a block of ice over a shaving machine (Royal Institute / Office of the Royal Society) |
| es serut | Indonesia | A sweet made from shaved ice, poured with syrup and often served with pieces of fruit (KBBI, the official Indonesian dictionary) |
Patbingsu shares the red beans on ice with Uji kintoki, and the condensed milk with matcha milk kintoki. Some shops flavor the ice itself. On the official menu of Kyo Roll En, a Japanese dessert shop with more than 10 outlets in Bangkok, the ice of its matcha kakigori is a “Matcha & Milk Granita”, served with matcha soft-serve, azuki red beans, shiratama and kuromitsu (black sugar syrup).
Matcha per serving in official recipes
In official recipes that give the matcha in grams and the number of servings, one serving used about 1.3 to 5 g of matcha. Matcha made up about 2 to 8% of the syrup, a difference of nearly four times.
Official recipes compared
| Source | Matcha | Sugar | Water | Servings | Matcha per serving | Matcha share of syrup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAFF “Our Regional Cuisines” Uji kintoki (recipe by Tomizawa Shoten and cuoca) | Uji matcha 5 g | Granulated sugar 100 g | Hot water 70 ml | 4 (about 800 g of ice) | About 1.3 g | About 2.9% |
| Morihan (Kyoto tea company), standard | 3 to 4 g | 60 g | Boiling water 50 ml | 2 | 1.5 to 2 g | About 2.6 to 3.5% |
| Morihan, full-strength | 5 g | 30 g | Boiling water 60 ml | 2 | 2.5 g | About 5.3% |
| MAIKO Tea Boutique (Uji tea café) | 4 g | 100 g | Hot water 100 cc | About 2 | About 2 g | About 2.0% |
| cotta (online baking supply company) | 10 g | White sugar 50 g | Water 70 ml | About 2 | About 5 g | About 7.7% |
| Isodaen (tea company) | 4 g | 50 g | Hot water 50 g | Not stated | Not calculated | About 3.8% |
| iwaki (glass tableware company) | 1 teaspoon | Granulated sugar 60 g | Hot water 50 ml | Not stated | Not calculated | Not calculated |
| Ito En | 1 tablespoon of its “Matcha Green Tea” product | Included in the product | 1 teaspoon of water | 1 (about 100 g of ice) | Not published | Not calculated |
| Tsujiri (Kataoka & Co.) | 17 g of its “Matcha Milk” product | Included in the product | Milk 50 cc | Not stated | Not published | Not calculated |
We calculated the matcha per serving and the share from the total of matcha, sugar and water (taking 1 ml as 1 g). Water lost during heating is not counted.
What the table shows
The smallest amount is the Uji kintoki on the MAFF page, at about 1.3 g per serving. This recipe uses about 200 g of ice per serving, topped with red bean paste and shiratama (about 800 g of ice and 12 shiratama for 4 servings). The largest is cotta’s, at about 5 g, and its syrup is also strong, with about 7.7% matcha.
Morihan uses keiko-grade matcha (for tea ceremony practice) in its standard syrup and temae-grade matcha (for serving guests in the tea ceremony) in its full-strength syrup. The full-strength syrup halves the sugar of the standard syrup and uses more matcha.
Syrup per serving
Assuming all the syrup is used, one serving gets about 44 g of syrup in the MAFF Uji kintoki, about 57 g in Morihan’s standard syrup and about 65 g in cotta’s (our calculation). The basic method, how to dissolve matcha without lumps, and amounts for lattes and sodas are covered in our matcha syrup recipe.
Syrup strength, and combining condensed milk, red bean paste and shiratama
Every topping of condensed milk or red bean paste adds sweetness, so raise the matcha share of the syrup and keep it less sweet. The toppings you choose change how strong the matcha tastes, even with the same syrup.
Sweetness is the total of syrup and toppings
MAIKO Tea Boutique suggests red beans, shiratama and condensed milk with its syrup recipe, and Isodaen suggests condensed milk and red bean paste. Under Japanese rules (the Ministerial Ordinance on Milk and Milk Products Concerning Compositional Standards, etc.), sweetened condensed milk is milk concentrated with added sugar, and its sugar content (including lactose) must be 58.0% or less, and its milk solids 28.0% or more. Condensed milk adds sweetness and richness at the same time.
If you turn Uji kintoki into matcha milk kintoki with condensed milk, we recommend starting from a low-sugar syrup such as Morihan’s full-strength one and weighing the condensed milk to set the amount. Layering condensed milk and red bean paste on a sweet syrup makes the bitterness of matcha hard to taste.
Pouring matcha and sugar syrup separately
In the matcha kakigori in MAFF’s magazine aff (April 2017), the sugar syrup and the matcha, dissolved strong in hot water, are made separately. Matcha goes into the bottom of the bowl, the ice goes on top, then kanten (agar jelly) is added and the syrup and matcha are poured over. The recipe says condensed milk or ice cream can be added at the end.
Keeping the matcha and the sugar syrup separate lets you change the sweetness and the strength of the matcha independently. For menus with and without condensed milk, you can use the same matcha liquid and change only the amount of sugar syrup.
Adding shiratama and ice cream
The Uji kintoki on the MAFF page makes 12 shiratama from 50 g of shiratamako (glutinous rice flour) for 4 servings of shaved ice. Shiratama harden when cold, so also take care to serve them in a way that avoids choking. Differences between flours and how to serve them are covered in matcha mochi, daifuku and warabi mochi, and the amount of matcha in ice cream in matcha ice cream and soft-serve. For layering in a glass, see how we build a matcha parfait.
Types of ice and how to shave it
For fluffy shaved ice, let a large block of ice soften slightly until it turns clear, then shave it. Hard ice straight from the freezer turns into fine powder.
Large blocks rather than ice cubes
On the Japanese government’s public relations site, the head of the Japan Kakigori Association (a general incorporated association) explains that with the small ice cubes from ice makers, the blade does not hit the ice evenly, so the ice breaks into grains and has a crunchy, gritty texture. A large block of ice shaves into even, thin layers, like a plane shaving wood, and has a fluffy texture.
Let frosted ice soften first
The instruction manual from Chubu Corporation, which makes the “Hatsuyuki” commercial ice shaver, says ice cold enough to have frost on it is too hard for shaving. Hard ice gives powdery shaved ice instead of a cotton-like texture and can damage the blade edge, so the manual says always to wait until the ice turns clear before using it.
We did not find a figure in the maker’s official documents for the temperature to bring the ice back to before shaving. In a shop, watch for the frost on the surface to disappear and the ice to turn clear, then start shaving. Stagger the times you take blocks out of the freezer and use them one at a time (our suggestion).
If you only have ice cubes
If the shop has no block ice, you will crush cubes with a cube-ice shaver or a blender. The texture will tend to stay grainy, so pour a little more syrup to help it melt, or blend it in with liquid toppings such as condensed milk (our view). How to choose water and ice is covered in “Choosing water and ice” in iced clear matcha.
Layering to prevent dilution, fading and melting
The stronger the syrup you pour, the faster the shaved ice melts. Melting cannot be avoided, so the amount and order of the syrup decide the shape and taste until the last spoonful.
Why stronger syrup melts the ice faster
According to an explanation by a curator at the Nagoya City Science Museum, sugar water does not freeze at 0°C, so when strong syrup is poured on ice, melting wins. Ice takes heat from its surroundings to melt, so the stronger the syrup, the more the ice keeps melting, and the temperature of the whole dessert falls below 0°C. That is why the syrup pooling at the bottom of the bowl is so cold.
On the other hand, the explanation says that with weak syrup the melting stops partway, leaving thin sugar water that is not very cold. A weaker syrup makes the ice melt more slowly, but it is also less cold. Deciding the sweetness of the syrup also decides how fast the ice melts and how cold it gets.
Layer the syrup and serve some on the side
The recipe in the MAFF magazine puts matcha in the bottom of the bowl before the ice, then pours more on top. Putting syrup both at the bottom and on top keeps the matcha flavor longer as you eat than pouring only on top (our view).
Things a shop can try (our suggestions):
- Put a little syrup in the bottom of the bowl, add half the ice and pour syrup, then add the rest of the ice and finish with syrup
- Serve about a third of the syrup in a small dish on the side for customers to pour as they eat
- Pour condensed milk last, and leave part of the top showing the green of the matcha
Keeping the color
MAIKO Tea Boutique says boiling the syrup hard dulls the color of the matcha, so if you want to keep a bright color, heat it only briefly. Why light and heat fade the green of matcha is covered in “Storage that keeps the color and aroma” in our matcha syrup recipe. Keep prepared syrup in a container that blocks light, and do not leave served shaved ice under lights.
Preparing and storing the syrup
Make matcha syrup to match the number of servings you sell in a day, do not boil it for long, and chill it before use. We did not find any official guide to how many days homemade syrup keeps.
Decide the batch size from the number of servings
Decide how much syrup goes into one serving and multiply it by the number of servings you expect that day. For example, 50 g per serving for 30 servings is 1,500 g. If the matcha share of the syrup is fixed, the matcha per serving is “grams of syrup per serving × matcha share” (our method of calculation).
Storage guides
MAIKO Tea Boutique says its syrup contains no preservatives, so it should be used up quickly. cotta suggests making a concentrated version with gum syrup if you want it to keep longer, and diluting it with water when you use it. We recommend chilling it, writing the date and time it was made, and comparing color, aroma and taste with a fresh batch side by side before deciding how many days your shop will use it. How the amount of sugar relates to spoilage is covered in our matcha syrup recipe.
Storing the matcha powder
For matcha before it becomes syrup, choose the bag size based on how many days it takes to use up after opening. Storage in hot countries and guides after opening are covered in matcha shelf life.
Rules for edible ice: Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia
In every country, the ice used for shaved ice is treated as food, and it must be made from drinkable water. There are also rules or guidelines for the shaving machine and the tools used to scoop ice.
Japan
Under Japan’s specifications and standards for food, ice (hyosetsu, ice for eating) must test negative for coliform bacteria and have no more than 100 bacteria per ml of melted water. The raw water for making the ice must be water for food manufacturing.
Source: Consumer Affairs Agency, “食品別の規格基準について 氷雪” (Specifications and standards by food: ice, in Japanese) https://www.caa.go.jp/policies/policy/standards_evaluation/other/category/assets/000832225.pdf
Japan’s Order for Enforcement of the Food Sanitation Act defines the restaurant business as “a business that prepares food, or provides facilities for customers to eat and drink.” Check with the public health center in your area which business permit you need to serve shaved ice.
Singapore
The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) guidelines on ice-making machines and serving ice (updated May 2019) ask shops to treat ice like ready-to-eat food, not to handle it with bare hands, and to use a clean scoop. They also say not to leave the scoop in the ice storage compartment, not to store bottles, cans or cartons of milk in it, and to service the ice-making machine at least twice a year. Water used in a shop must come from a tap connected to the water mains (Regulation 20 of the Food Hygiene Regulations).
Thailand
In 2025 Thailand issued Ministry of Public Health Notification No. 463 on edible ice, repealing the earlier Notification No. 78 and others. It came into force on 12 December 2025, the day after it was published in the Royal Gazette. It requires edible ice and the water used to make it to meet the standard for drinking water in sealed containers and to be free of filth and foreign matter. Packaged edible ice must be labeled “ice for consumption” (น้ำแข็งใช้รับประทาน).
Indonesia
The annex to Indonesia’s Minister of Health Regulation No. 2 of 2023 says the raw material for ice used where ready-to-eat food is prepared must be water of drinking-water quality. Part of this regulation was repealed by Minister of Health Regulation No. 3 of 2026, but according to the legal database of the Audit Board of Indonesia (BPK), the annex was excluded from the repeal. Check the permit procedure for your shop with your local health authority.
Serving it in shops in hot countries
In hot countries, keep the time from plating to the customer’s hands as short as possible, and plan how it tastes after it melts as well. Singapore’s monthly mean temperature is 26.8 to 28.6°C and Bangkok’s annual mean temperature is 28.9°C, so both are hot all year round.
Temperature and melting speed
According to the Meteorological Service Singapore, Singapore’s monthly mean temperature is 28.6°C in May, the warmest month, and 26.8°C even in December and January, the coolest. In the Thai Meteorological Department’s 1991 to 2020 normals, Bangkok’s annual mean temperature is 28.9°C, and the mean maximum temperature in April is 35.7°C. On terraces or in shops with weak air conditioning, the ice melts faster.
What a shop can do (our suggestions)
- Chill the bowls in the refrigerator to slow melting where the shaved ice touches the bowl
- Line up the toppings (red bean paste, shiratama, ice cream) next to the bowl first, and finish in one go once you start shaving
- Place the ice shaver near where orders come in, to shorten the distance to the table
- For takeaway, put the syrup and condensed milk in separate containers
Make the liquid that collects at the bottom of the bowl pleasant to finish as well (our view). As the Nagoya City Science Museum explains, the stronger the syrup, the colder and sweeter the liquid at the bottom. Serving matcha with ice cream is also covered in matcha float.
Writing the menu
If you write “Uji Kintoki” on the menu, customers who do not know Japanese will not know what it is. In English, list what is in it, such as “Matcha shaved ice with red bean”, naming the ice, matcha, red beans, condensed milk and shiratama (our suggestion). If you add condensed milk or ice cream made with milk, also state that it contains milk.
Suitable grades and the matcha cost per serving
Choose the grade of matcha for syrup by how its bitterness comes through, and work out the matcha cost per serving as “purchase price per kg ÷ 1,000 × grams per serving”. Prices vary by grade, origin and order volume, so calculate with your own shop’s purchase price.
Suitable grades
Morihan uses keiko-grade matcha in its sweeter standard syrup and temae-grade matcha in its full-strength syrup with less sugar. In our view, the more sugar or condensed milk a menu item has, the harder it is to tell grades apart, and the less sugar the syrup has, the easier the difference shows. Make test batches with different grades for the item with condensed milk and the item with only matcha and syrup, and taste them on the same ice, and the difference becomes clear (our view). The differences between grades are covered in matcha grades, and differences between regions in matcha origins.
Calculating the matcha cost per serving
The matcha cost per serving is “purchase price per kg ÷ 1,000 × grams of matcha per serving”. The matcha per serving in the official recipes is as follows (our calculation).
| Recipe | Matcha per serving |
|---|---|
| MAFF “Our Regional Cuisines” Uji kintoki | About 1.3 g |
| Morihan, standard | 1.5 to 2 g |
| MAIKO Tea Boutique | About 2 g |
| Morihan, full-strength | 2.5 g |
| cotta | About 5 g |
For example, at a shop using 2 g per serving, the matcha cost is “purchase price per kg ÷ 1,000 × 2”. Add any leftover syrup made in advance, and matcha dusted on top, to the grams. Adding the cost of sugar, red bean paste, condensed milk, shiratamako and ice gives the ingredient cost per serving. How the price of matcha per kg is set is covered in how matcha prices are set.
What to compare in test batches
Make two or three syrup recipes, line them up with the same ice and the same toppings, and compare the strength of the matcha both at the first bite and after the ice has melted. Omakase Matcha offers three samples.
Sources
- MAFF, “うちの郷土料理 宇治金時 京都府” (Our Regional Cuisines: Uji kintoki, Kyoto Prefecture, in Japanese) https://www.maff.go.jp/j/keikaku/syokubunka/k_ryouri/search_menu/menu/ujikintoki_kyoto.html
- MAFF, aff magazine April 2017, “抹茶を使ったおいしいレシピ” (Tasty recipes using matcha, in Japanese) https://www.maff.go.jp/j/pr/aff/1704/spe2_02.html
- Government of Japan public relations site, Highlighting Japan August 2021, “かき氷：夏のスイーツ” (Kakigori: a summer sweet, in Japanese) https://www.gov-online.go.jp/eng/publicity/book/hlj/html/202108/202108_03_jp.html
- Morihan official blog, “夏は抹茶のかき氷！ 抹茶シロップの作り方教えます！” (Matcha shaved ice for summer: how to make matcha syrup, 25 August 2023, in Japanese) https://www.tea-and-coffee.shop/blog/2023/08/25/kakigori/
- MAIKO Tea Boutique, “京都老舗お茶屋の簡単！本格！抹茶かき氷シロップのレシピ” (An easy, authentic matcha shaved ice syrup recipe from a long-established Kyoto tea shop, in Japanese) https://maiko.ne.jp/boutique/?p=1438
- MAIKO Tea Boutique, “抹茶のカキ氷シロップの作り方教えちゃいます！” (How to make matcha shaved ice syrup, in Japanese) https://maiko.ne.jp/boutique/?p=583
- Isodaen, “抹茶かき氷シロップの作り方” (How to make matcha shaved ice syrup, 1 August 2024, in Japanese) https://www.isodaen.co.jp/2024/08/01/%e6%8a%b9%e8%8c%b6%e3%81%8b%e3%81%8d%e6%b0%b7%e3%82%b7%e3%83%ad%e3%83%83%e3%83%97%e3%81%ae%e4%bd%9c%e3%82%8a%e6%96%b9/
- cotta, “抹茶シロップ（かき氷用）” (Matcha syrup for shaved ice, in Japanese) https://www.cotta.jp/recipe/recipe.php?recipeid=00008454
- iwaki official web shop, “宇治抹茶かき氷” (Uji matcha shaved ice, in Japanese) https://igc.co.jp/shop/pages/2021summer_recipe05.aspx
- Ito En, “白玉入り抹茶かき氷” (Matcha shaved ice with shiratama, in Japanese) https://www.itoen.jp/recipe/39931/
- Kataoka & Co., Tsujiri recipes, “抹茶ミルク かき氷シロップ” (Matcha milk shaved ice syrup, in Japanese) https://www.kataoka.com/tsujiri/enjoy/recipe/kakikoori_syrup.html
- Kyo Roll En, “Menu” https://www.kyorollen.com/menu/
- Kyo Roll En, “Find us” https://www.kyorollen.com/find-us/
- e-Gov Laws, “乳及び乳製品の成分規格等に関する命令” (Ministerial Ordinance on Milk and Milk Products Concerning Compositional Standards, etc., in Japanese) https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/326M50000100052
- Chubu Corporation, “初雪” HB600A instruction manual (Hatsuyuki ice shaver, in Japanese) https://www.chubu-net.co.jp/food/manual/_assets/torisetsu/HB600A.pdf
- Nagoya City Science Museum, “窮理の部屋160 かき氷は融けなきゃいけない” (Shaved ice has to melt, September 2018, in Japanese) https://www.sci-museum.jp/wp-content/themes/scimuseum2021/pdf/study/universe/2018/09/201809_12-13.pdf
- Consumer Affairs Agency, “食品別の規格基準について 氷雪” (Specifications and standards by food: ice, in Japanese) https://www.caa.go.jp/policies/policy/standards_evaluation/other/category/assets/000832225.pdf
- e-Gov Laws, “食品衛生法施行令” (Order for Enforcement of the Food Sanitation Act, in Japanese) https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/328CO0000000229
- Singapore Food Agency, “Guidelines on Use of Ice-Making Machine and When Serving Ice” (updated May 2019; no longer on the SFA website, 2022 archive) http://web.archive.org/web/20220728114024/https://www.sfa.gov.sg/docs/default-source/our-services/guidelines-on-use-of-ice-making-machine-and-safe-handling-of-ice_080319.pdf
- Singapore Statutes Online, “Environmental Public Health (Food Hygiene) Regulations” https://sso.agc.gov.sg/SL/EPHA1987-RG16?ProvIds=pr20-
- Thai Food and Drug Administration, Food Division, “น้ำแข็ง” (Edible ice, in Thai) https://food.fda.moph.go.th/food-law/f2-ice
- Thai Ministry of Public Health Notification No. 463 on edible ice (Royal Gazette, 11 December 2025, copy on the Thai FDA website, in Thai) https://food.fda.moph.go.th/media.php?id=841483502506614784&name=P463.pdf
- Audit Board of Indonesia (BPK) legal database, “Permenkes No. 2 Tahun 2023” (Minister of Health Regulation No. 2 of 2023, in Indonesian) https://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Details/245563/permenkes-no-2-tahun-2023
- National Institute of Korean Language, Standard Korean Language Dictionary, “팥빙수” (in Korean) https://stdict.korean.go.kr/search/searchResult.do?searchKeyword=팥빙수
- Office of the Royal Society (Thailand), dictionary, “น้ำแข็งไส” (in Thai) https://dictionary.orst.go.th/
- KBBI Daring, “es serut” (in Indonesian) https://kbbi.kemendikdasmen.go.id/entri/es%20serut
- Meteorological Service Singapore, “Climate of Singapore” https://www.weather.gov.sg/climate-climate-of-singapore/
- Thai Meteorological Department, “Climatological Data of Thailand for 30 Year Period (1991-2020)” https://ubonmet.tmd.go.th/files/MetInfo/climate_normal.pdf
