Muffin Top

pat bing soo

July 30, 2006 · No Comments


Korean dessert
Originally uploaded by c(h)ristine.

One of my favorite Korean treats is “pat bing soo,” (pronounced “paht bing soo”) a pile of shaved ice topped with various sweet delights like sweet red beans or fruit cocktail or fruits and definitely drizzled with sweetened condensed milk. Last summer when I was sweating it out in Seoul, I had this wonderful concoction nearly everyday.

They’re sold in bakeries and cafes, and every place makes a little different. Maybe you’ll get some gelatin in it, or fresh pineapple or maraschino cherries or fruit cocktail out of a can. Either way, there’s nothing more refreshing (maybe a watermelon) on a hot day.

I was chatting with Melanie about this, and she says Filipinos have something similar called “halo halo.”

And for what it’s worth–just so you know the meaning of pat bing soo…”soo” means water (the Chinese root anyway, like the Latin root functions in English)…”pat” means red bean…and I think “bing” means ice.

Slashfood has now featured pat bing soo on their site.

Categories: Asian Cuisine · C(h)ristine · Desserts

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  • Korean Chicken and Ginseng Soup: Sam Gye Tang « Muffin Top // November 15, 2006 at 1:50 pm

    [...] Last year, I did a lot of sweating in Seoul’s hot sticky summer heat, where I looked for relief wherever i could find it: air conditioned department stores, eating icy pat bing soo, and finally indulging in sam gye tang, (or sam gae tang however you want to spell it) a chicken and ginseng dish traditionallly eaten on the hottest summer days. [...]

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