Bingsoo, or patbingsoo, is a Korean dessert that's like ice cream sundae meets snowcone meets fruit cup. There are many variations of toppings, but it's typically a bed of shaved ice swimming in slightly sweetened milk, topped with fresh fruit, sweet red beans and maybe even tiny, chewy pieces of mochi.
It's just one version of the ubiquitous, cross-cultural shaved ice dessert. In Japan, it's kakigori. In the Philippines, it's halo-halo. Taiwan has tsua-bing. And there's Mexican raspado. Or the technicolored American snow cone. Different names with one purpose: tasty, personal air conditioning.
A stretch of 90-plus-degree days pushed me into a bingsoo kick recently, so thank goodness the nearby Korean cafes make some of the best bingsoo in town. I place my order, get an icy dessert about the size of a head of lettuce, crunch my way through it (I think it's made to share, but I often go solo—surprise, surprise) and immediately get major goosebumps and start shivering.
Just enough to distract my attention away from my bingsoo baby belly. And the summer heat.
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