Pat Bingsu
Nothing cools you down like this shaved-ice dessert
Growing up in Philadelphia, I was no stranger to summer heat. The city seems to enjoy good weather only in brief, fleeting moments. The majority of the climate is too hot, too cold, or too wet. Its summers can be atrocious. When I was young, neighbors would open the fire hydrant on the blocks and the kids would run through them. Those who didn’t enjoy running through the water took to frozen foods to provide a cooling sensation from the heat. After chasing down an ice-cream truck, the order of choice was usually soft-serve ice-cream cones, orange creamsicles, or sometimes the Mickey Mouse ice cream bar with the bubble gum eyeballs.
It’s been years since I was a kid and I haven’t been a big eater of dessert foods since then. I naturally found salty foods more attractive and around high-school I started learning about carbohydrates, high-protein diets, and sugars. It seems as if me and desserts were never meant to be. Which is why I wasn’t exactly prepared to fall in love with a dessert in Korea. But as weather changes, people can change too.
Much like Philadelphia, Korea is another place with unusually bitter winters and exceptionally hot summers. The blazing sun, combined with the high humidity has many people seeking relief from the summer days. Some people combat the weather by dressing a little more appropriately. Elder women usually tote embroidered cloth sun umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun. Older men can be seen wearing shorts and loose-fitting clothing. However, the youth culture in Korea seems to be different. There is a fashion-forward youth culture that wears skinny jeans year round. The youth hold oversized cell-phones up to their faces to shade themselves from the sun, but it’s purely to vain attempt at preventing a tan.
It’s on one of those unbearably hot days that I’m with a Korean friend and local who wants to enjoy some pat bingsu. I just went to the dentist only a day ago and thinking about eating anything other than soft rice sends phantom sensations of shockwaves down my raw teeth. However, the sun is killing me and the cafe is right here, so we duck inside and I’m already feeling better about my life.
The dish arrives and at first glance, it looks like an ice-cream cone and a bowl of cereal caught in the middle of an ice storm. My friend says that you have to mix the ingredients all together once it’s served to you, a practice that is common in many Korean dishes. I love the aesthetic beauty of it, so I want to maintain the integrity, but I submit and we mix the ingredients all together until it looks nothing its glamorous initial presentation.
In its germinal stages, pat bingsu started out with minimalist ingredients, featuring simply shaved-ice, red beans, and a small drizzle of sweetened condensed milk. Over the years, the popularity of this dessert has not only grown, but sprouted up like weeds. As a result, the ubiquitous nature of the dessert has led to vastly wild and elaborate variations of this summertime dessert. Pat bingsu is now featured on almost any menu in Korea, including places like Lotteria, a popular Asian fast-food chain. The dish now comes in many varieties, and includes a scoop of fresh ice-cream or frozen yogurt on top of it. Popular flavors include mocha, green tea, coffee, and cookies and cream.
The ingredients can be as complex or simple as needed. In most cases, a porcelain bowl is filled with a bed of shaved-iced. A layer of sweet red beans is added and sweetened condensed milk is poured into the mix. Add a scoop of ice-cream in the center. It can be surrounded with toppings like Chex rice squares, Kellogg’s corn flakes, and slivered almonds. Finally, it wouldn’t be pat bingsu without including almost any variety of fruits available, the most popular being strawberries, banana, kiwi, and watermelon. As a garnish, it can be topped with mint leaves, a single cherry, or even a brownie square. The addition of a thin coat of chocolate shavings or chocolate syrup isn’t uncommon.
While the popularity grew, so did the price tag on pat bingsu. Over the past few years, the price of pat bingsu has nearly doubled. Some resort hotels offer the treat at nearly 30,000 won. The cost has gotten so exorbitant that it has become the butt of jokes. Most recently, the price of bingsu was lampooned in a gag concert comedy show on a Korean network. The audience members laughed and shook their heads at the expensiveness of the food despite the relatively cheap ingredients. Still, many Koreans flock to get their next fix, whether or not that hurts them in the wallet.
Despite shelling out a few additional bucks, the cooling sensation it provides is a welcome relief to being outside. The cafe has an air-conditioner that blows cool air and my chair is comfortable. I think the best part of pat bingsu is the experience. It’s meant to be shared.
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