Korean red bean shaved ice is my ALL-TIME FAVORITE dessert! This colorful icy treat always brings me back to my childhood in Korea. It is such a refreshing summer dessert and one of my favorite Korean street foods!

Some people may not consider this to be a street food, but I remember getting it from street vendors as a kid! This style of patbingsoo isn’t made that much anymore with the popularity of injeolmi and other types of shaved ice that are more like ‘snow.’ The only places I have been able to find it easily are street vendors or spas.

My first time back in Korea as an adult, I asked my cousins to take me to get patbingsoo. But everywhere we went, I couldn’t find the kind I was looking for. I was told it is now called “yaetnal patbingsoo” which means old school patbingsoo, and not many people eat it like that anymore.

We were able to find one bingsu shop that actually had it, but they were closed. I gave up on searching and resorted to the ice cream section at the corner store that had a pre-packaged patbingsoo cup. But as I was walking through Nampodong in Busan, I found a whole bunch of tiny street carts with vendors making the old school patbingsoo! My cravings were satisfied at last.

What is patbingsoo?

‘Pat’ means sweet red beans and ‘bingsoo’ is shaved ice. The red beans are mixed with the shaved ice with a drizzle of condensed milk and some toppings like fruit, candy, mochi, and cheesecake bites.

These days, bingsoo is made with a much finer shaved ice- they call it “snow” and it is very light and fluffy. Sometimes it is even made from frozen milk instead of water. It’s good, but I actually prefer a more coarse shaved ice for the texture. Maybe it’s because I’m too used to the old school bingsoo. Back in the day, the shaved ice wasn’t as fine as it is today.

I’ve been trying to think of how to describe the taste of red bean shaved ice but it’s so hard to describe. For me personally, the taste and textures instantly bring me back to my childhood and I think that’s why I love it so much. It’s not overly sweet, its healthier than most desserts and its extremely refreshing during the hot & humid summers in Korea. I have such fond memories of eating this icy treat with my friends and family.

Ingredients:

• Ice- the old school patbingsoo was made with coarser shaved ice than the newer ‘snow’ type of finely shaved ice. You can make it with finely shaved ice if you prefer, but the traditional way is better in my opinion because you get a icy/crunchy texture that is so good with mixed with sweet red beans and condensed milk.
• Bingsoo tteok– this ingredient is an absolute MUST for me. If bingsoo doesn’t have tteok in it, I don’t even want it. These little mochi bites are my favorite bingsoo topping, and they are VERY easy to make if you can’t find the packaged kind!
• Fruits– you can use any fruit you like. All kinds of fruits are used for patbingsoo, but my favorites are strawberry, kiwi, banana, and blueberry.
• Condensed milk- you can also use whole milk, but I prefer condensed milk because whole milk tends to make the ice melt much faster, and isn’t as sweet.
• Jelly candies- this is optional! I remember seeing these in my bingsoo a lot when I was growing up. Sometimes my Korean market has them but they are really hard to find these days. I don’t usually miss them, so I don’t even look for them anymore.

Tools & ingredients, and where to get them:

Ice shaver– can you believe I have had my ice shaver for over 20 years? I loved patbingsoo so much as a kid that we bought an ice shaver so I could make it at home. I still have it and it still works! What I really love about my ice shaver is that there is a dial so you can choose how fine or coarse your ice is shaved.

If you don’t have an ice shaver, you can use a food processor. Just pulse until you get the right consistency. You can also buy this one from Amazon.

Sweet red beans- I have never made this from scratch because it is always available to me in cans, and they are good. You should be able to find sweet red beans at any Asian supermarket. The one that I like is pictured above.

Bingsoo tteok- mochi for patbingsoo is sold in small packages, but I’ve noticed they are getting harder and harder to find. That section in my local Hmart always seems to be empty. I got lucky and found a pack recently, so you can see a picture of it above- there is another brand that makes them as well but they are white and not multi colored.

In case they aren’t available to you or you can’t find it, I’ve provided a super easy recipe for you to make it from scratch. You will need:

• Glutinous rice flour
• Sugar
• Water
• Vinegar
• Potato starch
• A microwave

How to make bingsoo tteok

There are a couple ways you can make this, and I’m going to show you the easiest way. Bingsoo tteok can be made in the microwave in just 4 minutes!

All you need to do is mix together glutinous rice flour (also known as sweet rice flour), water, sugar, and a drop of vinegar. Microwave for 4 minutes, then let it cool completely before dusting all over with potato starch. Cut into strips, then into little cubes and give it one final potato starch dust to that they are no longer sticky on the outside. Shake off any excess starch and that’s it!