A cold dessert of ice or shaved ice drenched in a syrup made from the edible red cactus fruit that grows wild across the Penghu islands, tart-sweet and magenta. The signature sweet of Penghu, Taiwan's offshore-island county.
Cactus ice is the signature dessert of Penghu, Taiwan's county of small islands in the Taiwan Strait, where an edible species of red cactus fruit,Opuntia, grows wild across the dry, wind-swept island fields, said to have been introduced by early traders. The fruit, magenta-red and tart-sweet with a faint berry note, is processed into a syrup that is poured over shaved ice or ice cream, or set into ice lollies, a cooling dessert suited to the islands' hot, windy summers. The cactus fruit, gathered from the wild and laboriously peeled of its spines, has been a Penghu food for generations, but the commercialised cactus-ice dessert, sold from stalls along the Magong harbour and at tourist sites, dates from the late 20th-century tourism boom. The dessert comes in many forms, the syrup over shaved ice being the classic, and the cactus fruit's tartness, between cranberry and raspberry, and its vivid colour, are distinctive. Cactus ice is the edible emblem of Penghu, sold nowhere else as a regional specialty, and it is the must-eat of an island visit.
A mound of shaved ice drenched in a vivid magenta, tart-sweet syrup with a faint berry flavour and a clean, refreshing finish, the cactus fruit's acidity cutting the sweetness. Cold, bright, the taste of a Penghu summer afternoon.
The dessert is built on the cactus-fruit syrup. The red cactus fruit, Opuntia species, is gathered wild, its spines and tough skin carefully removed, the magenta flesh and seeds inside simmered with sugar and water and a little lemon juice until the fruit breaks down and the liquid becomes a vivid syrup, the seeds sometimes strained out, sometimes left for texture. The syrup is chilled, and served poured over finely shaved ice, the classic form, or churned into ice cream, or set into ice lollies. The cactus fruit's natural pectin gives the syrup a slight body, and its tart-sweet flavour, with a berry-like top note and a clean acidity, is distinctive, unlike any temperate fruit. The vivid magenta colour comes from the fruit's natural pigments and needs no added colour. The shaved ice must be finely shaved so the syrup coats each flake, and the dessert is eaten quickly before the ice melts. The labour of gathering and de-spining the wild fruit is why it remains a Penghu specialty.
Variations
Cactus ice cream and cactus lollies are popular variants. Some syrup is mixed with lemon or passionfruit. A cactus fruit cake uses the fruit in a baked dessert.
On the Palate
Where Penghu Cactus Ice sits in the Taiwanese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
5 steps · 15 min
- 15 min
Wear gloves; peel 500g ripe red cactus fruit of all spines and skin, leaving the magenta flesh and seeds.
- 26 min
Simmer the fruit with 150g sugar, 200ml water and the juice of 1 lemon for 20 minutes until the fruit breaks down into a vivid syrup; strain out the seeds if liked.
Watch outSimmer the fruit until it breaks down into a vivid magenta syrup — the fruit's own pectin gives the syrup its light body, so let it cook down fully.
- 34 min
Chill the syrup completely.
- 44 min
Shave 500g ice finely, or use crushed ice; mound into 4 bowls.
- 53 min
Pour the chilled cactus syrup generously over each; serve at once with a spoon, eaten before the ice melts.
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