Bingsu

Shaved frozen milk rather than crushed ice, which is a texture you cannot get from a blender.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (condensed milk), dairy (whole milk).

Ingredients

For the ice

• 800 ml whole milk
• 3 tablespoons condensed milk
• 1 tablespoon sugar

To top

• 300 g sweetened red bean paste
• 12 small chewy rice cake pieces
• 2 tablespoons toasted soybean powder, optional
• condensed milk, to pour
• fruit, if you want it

Method

1. THE ICE IS SHAVED AND NEVER CRUSHED, and this is the only thing that matters here. Shaved ice comes off in soft ribbons that collapse on the tongue; crushed ice is fragments with edges, and however finely a blender breaks it the result is wet gravel that waters down as it melts. A hand ice-shaver is cheap. Without one, the honest answer is to freeze the milk in a shallow tray and scrape it across with a strong spoon, which is not as good and is much closer than blending.
2. AND IT IS FROZEN MILK, NOT WATER. Milk with a little condensed milk freezes softer than water and shaves into fluffier ribbons, and it means the ice itself tastes of something. Water ice under toppings is dilute by the third spoonful.
3. THE CONDENSED MILK IN THE FREEZING STOPS IT SETTING ROCK SOLID. Sugar lowers the freezing point, so the block stays just soft enough to shave. Plain frozen milk is glassy and shatters.
4. IT IS FROZEN IN A SHALLOW LAYER, not a deep block -- about three centimetres, so it freezes through evenly and can be broken into pieces that fit the shaver.
5. AND IT IS ASSEMBLED AT THE LAST SECOND, in chilled bowls, and taken straight to the table. Shaved ice standing in a warm bowl is a puddle in four minutes, and nothing about this dish survives that.
6. Milk, condensed milk and sugar whisked until the sugar has dissolved.
7. Poured into a shallow tray or round tubs to a depth of about 3 cm and FROZEN at least 6 HOURS, or overnight.
8. Serving bowls put in the freezer 20 minutes beforehand.
9. The rice cake pieces covered with warm water 10 minutes to soften, then drained.
10. The frozen milk turned out and broken into pieces that fit the shaver.
11. SHAVED straight into the chilled bowls, piled high and not pressed down.
12. The red bean paste spooned on top in the centre.
13. The rice cakes, soybean powder and any fruit arranged around it.
14. Condensed milk poured over at the table, and eaten at once, from the top down.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under South Korea · All recipes