One thing about me, I love eating ice. It’s one of my favourite snacks.
I’m always seeing videos and pictures of bingsu, IT ALWAYS LOOKS SO REFRESHING and it is icy, so I wanted to try making it.
I love this, it’s such a good dessert for summer. It’s cold, refreshing, crunchy…it’s just so good.
Video Tutorial
What is bingsu?
If you’ve never heard or tried bingsu before, I also had no idea what it was up until about a year ago. Let me give a quick explanation.
It’s a Korean dessert, essentially it is shaved ice, that has then been topped with…toppings.
I think the most traditional toppings are things like groundnut powder, red beans and rice cakes.
But the ones I’ve seen are always topped with things such a fruit, condensed milk, fruit syrups, ice cream etc.
The shaved ice that I’m used to seeing, is typically made from ice, as in ice made from water.
However bingsu is made a little different. The shaved ice is not coming from regular ice, it’s coming from a frozen sweetened milk. Which makes the shaved ice a little more creamier, kind of like ice cream.
This bingsu was the first kind of shaved ice I’ve ever had, I’ve never tried any other kind. So I can’t really compare it to other kinds.
But to me personally, shaved ice made from frozen sweetened milk, instead of frozen water sounds much better.
Ingredients for the bingsu
So making the shaved ice is very easy. I feel like the hardest part is waiting for the milk to freeze.
Here are the ingredients you will need to make it:
- Whole milk – make sure to use whole milk, it’s won’t be as good with other kinds.
- Water
- Condensed milk – I’m using condensed milk to sweetened this. I’ve also seen people use corn syrup or glucose syrup. I tried this with glucose syrup, but I like the taste of it much better with condensed milk.
To make it, you just mix these ingredients together, pour this mixture into a container, and let this freeze overnight.
The strawberry puree
The next thing I made was a puree. I made this on the same day, then I just left it in the fridge overnight.
This puree is of course optional, you don’t need it. It does taste great without it.
But if you did want to make it, this is what I used:
- Strawberries
- Sugar – I used 4 tablespoons, but you can use more or less. Adjust the amount depending on the sweetness of your strawberries.
- Water
Can I use a different fruit?
Yes, you definitely can.
I went with strawberries, but you don’t need to stick with this.
I recommend using a soft juicy fruit though. For example, any berry will work, mangoes will work great too.
Shaving the frozen milk
Once the milk has fully frozen overnight, we can now shave it.
I’ve seen this been done in 2 different ways.
One way I’ve seen it be done is, instead of freezing the milk in a container, people freeze it in ice cube trays.
Then the next day, they add these cubes into a food processor and process it.
I did not like this way, my shaved ice melted. I was actually so sad.
Then the other way is, the milk is frozen in a container. Then to shave it, you just get a fork and start scraping the ice.
I found this way so much better, so that’s what I did.
So just get a fork and start scraping the ice. There’s no specific way to do it, just scrape!
How to stop the shaved ice from melting?
This is still ice, so it will melt. We don’t want to melt before we get a chance to eat it.
So the best way to shave the ice, is to do it bit by bit.
Instead of shaving your block of milk until you get a bowl full of shaved ice. Just shave a little and add this into a bowl, then put this bowl into the freezer.
Now shave more from the block, get your bowl and add the new shaved ice into it, then place the bowl back into your freezer.
Keep repeating this until you’ve got as much shaved ice as as you want.
It does seem like a long process, but it doesn’t take that long, and it is worth it!
Here are some other recipes I think are also good for summer:
Strawberry Bingsu
Ingredients
- For the ice:
1 litre whole milk
200ml water
180g condensed milk
- For the strawberry puree:
300g strawberries
4 tablespoons granulated sugar (you can adjust this amount depending on the sweetness of the strawberries)
4 tablespoons water
- Extras:
Strawberries, washed and chopped (or any fruit you want)
Some ice cream, to put on top
Directions
- Making the ice:
- In a large bowl, add the milk, water and condensed milk. Gently whisk this until combined.
- Pour this into a freezer safe container, cover and leave in the freezer overnight.
- Making the strawberry puree:
- Start by adding your strawberries into a food processor. Process these until there are no chunks of strawberry left.
- Pour this through a sieve, to get out all the seeds.
- Add the puree into a pot, along with the sugar and water. Place this onto medium heat and heat just until it comes to a boil. We don't need to cook this for long at all, we just want the sugar to dissolve.
- Leave this in the fridge until you're ready to use it.
- Shaving the ice:
- The next day, you can start shaving your ice.
- To do this, get a fork and start scraping the frozen milk, until you get shavings. You don't need to shave all the ice, just do as much as you want to eat.
- Side note, this might take some time, especially if you are planning on shaving a lot. I recommend doing it bit by bit. So shave some, add this into your bowl, then put this bowl into the freezer, whiles you shave some more. Keep repeating this until you've got as much shaved ice as you want.
- Now just add your chopped strawberries, a few scoops of ice cream, pour the puree on top and then you can enjoy!
