Bingsu (Korean Shaved Ice) is a traditional Korean recipe, for a classic dessert of shaved milk ice served topped with fresh fruit and condensed milk. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Korean version of: Korean Shaved Ice (Bingsu).
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Bingsu (빙수), or Korean shaved ice, is probably one of the most popular summer desserts in Korea (and is also considered one of South Korea’s national dishes) that's often enjoyed in the colder weathers as well. It's lightly, fluffy, lightly sweetened, and sometimes looks super extravagant, but it's actually really easy to prepare at home. This bingsu recipe is a base recipe for the shaved ice, and we've also provided 3 methods to prepare the bingsu, so that you choose your preferred way of making it, depending on which equipment you have available.
Ingredients:
For the shaved ice:
500ml milk (preferably low fat)
500ml cold water
2 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
Optional toppings:
sweetened condensed milk
Fruit, chopped or sliced, (eg strawberries, mango, kiwifruit, bananas, melons) Injeolmi Korean rice cakes Sweet red (adzuki) beans
Ice cream (choose your favourite flavour)
Sweetened whipped cream
Universal grade matcha
Nuts, to garnish
Method:
For the bingsu base, simply mix together the milk, water and condensed milk.
To prepare bingsu in an ice machine: Pour the bingsu base mixture into the ice puck container for your shaved ice machine and freeze until the milk mixture is solid (about 4 to 6 hours). Depending on what comes with your machine, you may need to remove the frozen puck and repeat the process until all the milk mixture is frozen and ready to use.
Once the frozen milk pucks are ready, shave the milk puck according to your machine instructions.
To prepare bingsu using a blender: Divide the bingsu milk mixture into ice cube trays and place it into the freezer. Allow the cubes to freeze until completely solid, about 3 to 4 hours. Remove the cubes and repeat the process if necessary.
When ready to assemble, place the frozen cubes into a blender or food process. Pulse the cubes until they are fine flakes.
To prepare bingsu in a freezer: Pour the bingsu milk mixture into a 5l resealable freezer bag or a few smaller freezer bags (use the largest bags you can so the milk mixture freezes as a thin sheet). Place the freezer bags of the milk mixture in the freezer. Try your best to keep the bags laying flat so that when the mixture is frozen, it'll also be flat and even.
Once frozen, break up the mixture into smaller pieces by bending the bag. Then use a rolling pin to break the mixture into finer pieces by rolling and beating the bag.
To assemble the dessert: It’s very important that the toppings you want to use are prepared and ready to use by the time you shave, blend, or break the bingsu ice mixture.
Either transfer the shaved ice mixture to a serving bowl or shave the mixture straight into the bowl. Garnish and top the shaved ice with your desired toppings. If you wish, you can also add toppings in the middle of the shaved ice, add more shaved ice, then top with more toppings.
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