• Yield: Serves 6


Once you make granita at home, you can forget the whole homemade Popsicle game: this is way more fun. There is something really special about how flavored ice shaves off itself and breaks up into crystals and how that reacts on your tongue. Just like a kiss.

  • One 14-ounce can condensed milk, plus a little more for garnish

  • 3 1/2 cups water

  • One 14-ounce can coconut milk

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

  • 3 tablespoons cold brewed coffee

  • 1 teaspoon roasted and crushed sesame seeds

  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

  • Grated zest of 1 lime

Garnish:

  • Fresh or canned lychee

  • Fresh mint leaves

Combine the condensed milk, water, coconut milk, cardamom, coffee, sesame seeds, lime juice, and zest in a big bowl and give it a good whisk. Run the mixture through a sorbet machine or freeze it in a pan, running a fork through it every 30 minutes until frozen.

Scoop and serve the shaved ice in a bowl with the lychees, the mint, and a little more condensed milk drizzled over top.


From L.A. Son by Roy Choi with Tien Nguyen and Natasha Phan, Anthony Bourdain/Ecco 2013.