Patbingsu
A snowy mound of shaved ice with milk, homemade sweet red beans, chewy rice-cake cubes, roasted soybean powder and a drizzle of condensed milk: Korea's summer dessert for sharing. Serves two; about 100 minutes with homemade beans, 15 with canned.
- Time
- 100 min
- Level
- Easy
- Spice
- Serves
- 2
What is Patbingsu?
WHAT IT IS
Patbingsu is finely shaved ice, or frozen milk, piled high and topped with sweet simmered red beans (pat), condensed milk and small chewy rice cakes, often with roasted soybean powder and fruit. It's a summer dessert served in one big bowl for two or more, eaten with long spoons and stirred together as you go.
WHERE IT COMES FROM
Joseon stored river ice in state ice houses, but to keep food fresh; the Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture finds no record of eating ice sweetened with honey or syrup. Shaved ice came with Japanese merchants after the ports opened: machine-shaved bingsu was sold from the 1900s, fine ice topped with sugared red beans became the classic version, and in 1915 Seoul alone had 442 bingsu sellers. Home ice shavers appeared in the 1970s and, with canned red beans, made it an easy home dessert by the 1990s; since the 2010s, snow-fine bingsu with injeolmi and soybean powder has made it a year-round café treat.
Sources:Encyclopedia of Korean Folk CultureNational Folk Museum of Korea
Ingredients
재료Each Korean item has a substitute, in case you can’t get to a store.
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- 1 cup (7 oz / 200 g)Dried adzuki (red) beans (pat) 팥
Substitute: This makes about 2½ cups of sweet beans: enough for 2 bowls plus extra, and they keep for a week in the fridge. Short on time? See the canned shortcut at the end of the list.
Search on Amazon Amazon US - ½ cup (100 g)Sugar, for the beans 설탕In your pantry
- 1 lb (450 g)Ice cubes (about 4 cups once shaved) 얼음
Substitute: For creamier milk-ice bingsu, freeze 2 cups (480 ml) of milk mixed with 2 tbsp condensed milk in ice-cube trays and shave that instead.
In your pantry - ¼ cup (60 ml)Cold whole milk 우유Any grocer
- 3 tbspSweetened condensed milk 연유Any grocer
- ¼ cup (40 g)Sweet (glutinous) rice flour, for the rice-cake cubes 찹쌀가루
Koda Farms Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour · 16 oz × 2
Substitute: Or buy ready-made injeolmi or mochi and cut it into ½-inch (1 cm) cubes.
Check price on Amazon Amazon US - 2 tbspRoasted soybean powder (injeolmi-garu) or misugaru 콩가루
Substitute: It keeps the rice cakes from sticking and adds a toasty, nutty taste.
Search on Amazon Amazon US - 1 cup (optional)Fruit such as strawberries, mango or kiwi, diced 과일Any grocer
- A pinch of salt for the beans; 1 tsp sugar and a pinch of salt for the rice cakes; 1 tbsp honey or 1 tsp vanilla extract for the beans (optional)In your pantry
- Shortcut (optional)Canned sweetened red beans 통조림 팥
Substitute: Use about 1 cup instead of making the beans in steps 1 and 2.
Search on Amazon Amazon US
Method
만드는 법Sources we compared:MaangchiKorean BapsangMy Korean Kitchen
- 1
Boil the beans
Rinse the beans and pick out any broken or shriveled ones. Put them in a pot with 4 cups (1 L) of water, bring to a boil, boil for 5 minutes and drain. Return the beans to the pot with 5 cups (1.2 L) of fresh water, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 60–75 minutes, stirring gently now and then and adding water if it runs low, until a bean crushes easily between your fingers.
The first quick boil, drained away, takes out the beans' slightly bitter, astringent taste.
- 2
Sweeten and cool
Stir in the sugar, a pinch of salt and the honey or vanilla if using. Simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes, stirring gently so the beans stay mostly whole, until glossy and spoonable. Stop while they're a little looser than you want; they thicken as they cool. Cool completely, then chill.
The beans keep for up to a week in the fridge; freeze them in portions for longer.
- 3
Make the rice-cake cubes
In a microwave-safe bowl, stir the sweet rice flour with 1 tsp sugar, a pinch of salt and 3 tbsp water until smooth. Cover loosely and microwave for 1 minute, stir hard with a wet spoon, then microwave 20–30 seconds more until it turns translucent and stretchy. Tip it onto a plate dusted with some of the soybean powder, pat it flat about ½ inch (1 cm) thick and cut it into small cubes, rolling them in the powder.
The dough is very hot and sticky. Let it cool for a minute and wet your fingers before you shape it.
- 4
Shave the ice
Chill two bowls in the freezer for 10 minutes. Shave the ice in an ice shaver, or pulse it in a blender or food processor in short bursts, about 20 seconds in all, until it looks like fluffy snow.
Have everything else ready before you shave: the ice starts melting the moment it's in the bowl.
- 5
Build the bowls and eat at once
Mound the ice in the cold bowls and pour the milk over it. Spoon about ½ cup of red beans on top of each, add the fruit and rice cakes, sprinkle with the rest of the soybean powder and drizzle with condensed milk. Serve right away with a spoon for everyone.
Some people stir everything together before the first bite; others eat it layer by layer. Both are perfectly normal in Korea.
Say it in Korean
한국어로 말해 보세요For a bingsu café on a hot day. One bowl is usually shared.
