Here's Why Everyone Is Shaving Fruits and Veggies on TikTok

Produce tastes even more refreshing when you use this trick.

BHG/Nelly Cuanalo

From butter boards and baked oats to girl dinner and rat snacks, TikTok has kicked off a bounty of buzzy food trends over the years. Some leave us scratching our heads (please don’t wash your shredded cheese!). Others have us sprinting to the kitchen to try out (like these five-star Flat Croissants).

Since not every viral food trend is the most reliable, we tend to wait until they get our Test Kitchen's approval. To do so, a recipe must able to be recreated at home and get a thumbs up from the tasting panel—for working as expected, flavor, and appearance. One famed recipe that recently went through the process: fruit-shaved ice—here's the verdict.

Frozen fruit shaved ice went viral after Frankie Gaw (aka @littlefatboyfrankie), recipe developer and the author of First Generation: Recipes from My Taiwanese-American Home, shared it on Instagram and TikTok. Since, other home cooks and chefs have been trying the technique with much more than berries.

According to Brekke, the best frozen produce items to shave include (but aren't limited to):

By “shaving” the frozen produce using a microplane, Gaw is able to create a treat that’s reminiscent to nam kang sai, a Thai shaved-ice dessert that’s served with your choice of toppings, like condensed milk, candied sweet potatoes, taro, or various seeds.

It’s also a flashback to the shaved ice several Test Kitchen staff members recall enjoying from neighborhood stands at Midwestern summer fairs and festivals. Inside those kiosks, staff use special machines to “shave” ice into a snow-like texture, then top each cup of ice with a vibrantly-colored flavored syrup—or a mix of several.

This viral shaved ice trend recreates a similar experience, just with one no-sugar-added ingredient. Gaw finishes his shaved frozen strawberry dessert with a drizzle of condensed milk, crushed peanuts, and black sesame seeds.

To put this technique to the test, Niehaus started with frozen watermelon sticks. She used a microplane to shave the fruit, and the result was “delicious and refreshing,” reminding her of an Italian ice.

Since a microplane shaves the produce so finely, “the difficult part is grating enough into your bowl before it all melts," she says. "I recommend freezing a good amount of fruit and grating each portion individually, topping it, then enjoying it right away."

Gaw told TASTE, “I tried other graters, but for me, the beautiful part of a lot of Asian shaved ice is that it’s so fluffy. Using a microplane achieves a similar fluffiness. It has this really light texture and retains a lot of flavor, so I think it’s the best way to go.”

A microplane can work for smaller items, like berries, cherries, and grapes, but for the best results with these pint-sized fruits, Brekke recommends using a countertop rotary food grater so that the small items can be placed into the chute instead of trying to hold them with your fingertips.

“After our testing, we feel that it’s worth investing in a rotary food grater because it is efficient and safer," she says.

Whether you opt for a microplane or a grater, you can rest assured that this one-ingredient food hack works with a variety of fruits and vegetables. For this reason, it impressed our Test Kitchen, and Brekke recommends it to home cooks.

Start by washing your produce. Cut your fruit or vegetable in half or into large pieces for a microplane. Or for a countertop rotary food grater, slice into large chunks that will fit through the food chute. Remove the peel, pit, or excess seeds, if needed. On a parchment paper-lined sheet pan, freeze the fruits and/or vegetables until solid, then use a microplane or food grater to shave the frozen pieces into a bowl. Top as desired.

Frozen produce is very cold and can be slippery. Use caution to avoid injury or frostbite on your hands. Try using a paper towel as a barrier to grip the fruit.

You could follow Gaw’s Thai-inspired lead and crown your cup of shaved ice with condensed milk and a sprinkle of nuts and seeds, or steal one of our Test Kitchen’s favorite ideas: