Create a popular Korean summer dessert, Patbingsu (shaved milky ice with red beans), easily at home. I’ll tell you the secret to make this without an ice shaving machine!
Patbingsu (shaved milky ice with red beans, 팥빙수) is a very popular summer dessert in Korea. “Pat” means red beans and “Bingsu” means shaved ice, so It is basically shaved ice with sweetened red beans on top.
Some people like to add a bunch of other toppings such as fresh fruits or canned fruit cocktails, rice cakes, cereals or whatever they wants to put on. But my absolute favorite has to be the old fashioned red beans and rice cakes. The less, the better.
Originally, most patbingsu is made with plain water. However with recent trend in Korea, shaved ice made with milk aka “ooyu bingsu (우유빙수)” becomes more popular and I think it tastes even better.
You don’t need to have a shaving machine to enjoy this cool refreshing dessert. My Patbingsu (shaved milky ice with red beans), is a version with no shaving machine needed. How smart?
What are the ingredients needed for Patbingsu?
- Milk
- Store-bought canned sweetened red beans
- Sticky rice cakes (optional)
- Sweet condensed milk
What type of milk do you need?
Use whole milk. You will need the milk fat. I also like to add a little bit of cream to make it richer but it is totally optional.
Can I use other topping instead of red beans?
Absolutely! Try with strawberry, mango, or peach. Sweeten them with a little bit of sugar. They will be so good on their own.
How can you make shaved milky ice without a shaving machine?
You will need to freeze the sweetened milk until solid. Since the milk mixture has some fat in it, by pounding it with a rolling pin or scraping with a folk, it will turn into slush. It is not the same as the fine snowy shaved ice produced by a machine, but you will get a similar result and tastes equally good. Make sure you freeze the milk in a ziplock bag laying flat in the freezer.
Tips to keep the dessert cold while you are serving
Keep your serving bowl in the freezer for at least 20 minutes to keep it really cold. Make sure your bowls are freezer safe.
I mixed milk with a little bit of cream and put it in the ziplock bag laying flat in the freezer. After about 3-4 hrs, you will get solid hard frozen milk.
Keep it on the counter for 5-10 minutes to thaw a little bit, then pound it with a rolling pin flipping the bag back and forth.
When you see the large cluster of milk mixture forming like slush, you can scoop the mixture into a bowl.
I use the store-bought canned sweetened red beans and chopped rice cakes. The rice cakes add chewy texture but you can omit them if you prefer without.
Place the milk slush into a cold serving bowl, and top with red beans and rice cakes. Drizzle some sweet condensed milk on top.
I sprinkled some roasted grain powder (misugaru, 미숫가루) on top, too, to add nuttiness just like the old fashioned Korean bingsu.
Serve while it is cold. Mix the slush-like shaved milky ice with red beans gently altogether. Enjoy the cool refreshing taste of Korean summer dessert.
Enjoy other Korean dessert recipes
Patbingsu (Korean Shaved Milky Ice with Red Beans)- No shaving machine needed
Ingredients
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1/4 cup heavy or light cream. optional
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 18 oz sweetened red beans
- 1/2 cup chopped sweet rice cakes optional
- 4-6 tbsp sweet condensed milk
Instructions
- In a bowl whisk together milk, cream (if suing) and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Pour into a gallon size zip bag and laying flat in the freezer, Freeze it for at least 3 hrs.
- Take the bag out of freezer and thaw in on the counter for 5-10 minutes. Using a rolling pin, pound the bag to break up the solid milk into large chunks flipping the bag back and forth. When you see the milk it broken into somewhat large slush chunk, stop the pounding.
- Scoop the milk chunks into the individual serving bowls and top with red beans, about 3-4 tablespoonfuls per serving, and rice cakes if using. Drizzle with sweet condensed milk and serve immediately.
When I was still a kid, I ate lots of shaved ice, but they were usually made with flavoured water or some kind of juice. Yours made with whole milk must have tasted particularly creamy and yum.
Are these canned beans a paste or are they whole. Thanks for the help.
Canned beans but whole beans, not mashed