One of Korea’s most popular desserts. This summer, bring Korean cuisine to your table!
Bingsu (빙수) is a Korean shaved-ice dessert—a kind of icy Korean sorbet or snow cone piled with toppings. It goes by many names.
When I was little and discovering Asian cuisine in all its forms in New York, there was only one type of bingsu served in Koreatown: patbingsu (팥빙수). Alongside hotteok, bingsu is one of Korea’s great sweet classics.
Today, though, there are so many different kinds of bingsu—it’s amazing how many variations have appeared:
- with different fruits (known as kwail bingsu 과일빙수),
- with matcha (Nokcha bingsu 녹차빙수),
- with mango,
- with coffee, chocolate, cookies, and more.
The original patbingsu (shaved ice with red beans) was made with sweet red beans (danpat 단팥), probably the key ingredient in classic Korean bingsu apart from the ice itself. After that, misugaru (미수 가루 multi-grain powder) and sweetened condensed milk are probably the next two essentials.
But don’t worry—I know you, so the recipe here is ultra-simple. You can flavor the condensed milk any way you like; think of this recipe as a template for making a bingsu that suits you. For example, why not make a delicious mango bingsu?
Ingredients
- 1 melon, halved
- 600 ml whole milk
- 4 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
- Combine the whole milk and sweetened condensed milk in a bowl.600 ml whole milk, 4 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
- Pour the mixture into an airtight freezer bag. Lay it flat in the freezer for at least 4 hours.
- Using a spoon or melon baller, scoop out plenty of melon balls. Hollow out the remaining melon shell so it can be used as a bowl, then set aside.1 melon, halved
- The mixture in the bag should now be completely frozen.
- Remove the bag from the freezer and crush the frozen mixture by rolling over it with a rolling pin.
- Once crushed, spoon the shaved ice into the melon shell and top with the melon balls.
