Meeting the Love of my Life: Bingsu

Before Korea, I had zero idea what bingsu even was. Shaved ice? A slushie? Some sad snow cone with neon syrup? Yeah…no. Turns out bingsu is the love of my life.

The thing is, it’s not like regular ice. It’s creamy, fluffy shaved milk that melts in your mouth. No crunchy ice chunks. Just soft, cloud-like snow that somehow tastes rich and refreshing at the same time, especially when you mix everything together.

Now, the traditional version (patbingsu) is all about sweetened red beans, chewy rice cakes, and condensed milk. But then there’s Sulbing’s Oreo Haagen-Dazs Chocolate Bingsu and that’s the one that changed my life.

Picture this: a mountain of shaved milk ice covered in Oreo crumbs, dusted with chocolate powder, drizzled with hot fudge, topped with whipped cream and a scoop of ice cream. Oh, and don’t forget the secret layer of cornflakes inside for crunch. I swear I still dream about it.

The whole bingsu experience is half the fun:

• It always comes out in a giant sharing bowl, but funny story, my first time, I thought it was a single serving. Rookie mistake.

• The table gets covered in mini bowls so you can scoop and share, and crush it up and mix it until your heart’s content. 

• It’s endlessly flexible: red bean lovers, fruit fanatics, cheesecake dreamers, and chocolate addicts (like me!), there’s a bingsu for everyone.

Sulbing is the king of the game and not just in Korea. They’ve got locations in Japan, Canada, and just one or two in the US (I need to go!!). I miss it so much, and once I’m back in Korea, that will in fact be my first stop.

Until the next one, 

Ashley 💌