The Art of Making Patbingsu: A Sweet and Cold Summer Treat

As we welcome the arrival of summer, many of us are looking for refreshing treats to beat the heat. For those who have tried patbingsu before, it's a must-try dessert that combines shaved ice with sweet red beans, fruits, and other toppings. In this article, we'll take a closer look at the traditional way of making patbingsu, as well as some variations and creative twists.

Preparing the Sweet Red Beans

To make patbingsu, you need to start by preparing the sweet red beans. The beans are usually dried, so it's essential to wash them thoroughly before cooking. Our host begins by picking out any broken or damaged beans from the pot. She then adds four and a half cups of water to the pan and brings it to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, she reduces the heat to low and simmers for about an hour and a half, until the beans are cooked and tender.

If you're short on time, you can use canned sweet red beans from the Korean grocery store. However, our host emphasizes that homemade is always the best option. After cooking the beans, she adds them to a container and lets them cool down. The resulting sweet red bean paste looks slightly mushy but is actually quite delicious.

Assembling the Patbingsu

Now it's time to assemble the patbingsu. Our host starts by adding shaved ice to a bowl, followed by a generous amount of sweet red beans. She then adds various toppings such as mango and strawberry slices, rice cake (injeolmi), and even some people use jelly for added sweetness. The star of the show, however, is the mango, which is carefully sliced into chunks.

Interestingly, the mango used in patbingsu at some hotels can cost upwards of $100! This makes it a special treat that's worth indulging in during the summer months. Our host skillfully peels the mango and cuts it into small pieces, adding them to the bowl along with a few pieces of rice cake.

Making Injeolmi: A Simple Rice Cake Recipe

Injeolmi is a type of rice cake that's commonly used as a topping for patbingsu. Making injeolmi from scratch is surprisingly easy and requires just a few ingredients, including glutenous rice flour, mung bean powder, starch powder, and sugar. Our host begins by mixing the dry ingredients together, including one quarter cup of rice flour, one teaspoon of sugar, and a pinch of salt.

To toast the soybean powder, our host simply microwaves it for about one minute, which gives it a nutty flavor. She then adds three tablespoons of water to the mixture and stirs until it forms a sticky dough. The resulting injeolmi is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, making it the perfect accompaniment to patbingsu.

Making Sweet Red Bean Paste

To complete the patbingsu, our host needs to make a sweet red bean paste using cane sugar, water, and vanilla essence. She begins by melting one cup of Swerve (a zero-calorie sweetener) in a saucepan over low heat. Once melted, she adds two teaspoons of vanilla essence and stirs until well combined.

As the mixture heats up, our host carefully monitors its temperature, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. After about five minutes, the sweet red bean paste is ready, with a shiny appearance that's both appetizing and Instagram-worthy.

Conclusion

Making patbingsu from scratch requires some effort, but the end result is well worth it. By following these simple steps and using high-quality ingredients, you can create a delicious and refreshing dessert that's perfect for hot summer days. Whether you're a seasoned dessert maker or just starting out, this article has provided you with a comprehensive guide to making patbingsu at home.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(upbeat music)- Hi everybody.Today I'm making something sweet and cold.Summertime treat, patbingsu.Shaved ice with sweet red beans.These days there are many, many variationsbut my favorite isalways the traditional way.It's a sweet red bean.I'm going to use just one cup.Red beans, very dried.But we are going to wash and boil.First, pick out any stuff that are broken.So see, this I don't like to eatand pretty much clean.Water.(beans rattling)This is my heavy pan.And add this and boil.Add four and a halfcups of water and cover.Let's boil.(stove knob clicks)Cook this for 10 minutesover medium high heatuntil the water boils.And then I'm going toturn down the heat to lowand kind of simmer for long time.One and a half hoursuntil the beans arenicely cooked and tender.But if you guys are busyjust pick up this,a can of sweet red beans.You can find this easily atthe Korean grocery store,but homemade is the best.Now see.This is very sweet and delicious actually.But a little mushy.Looks a little like paste.It's boiling.And then turn down the heat to very low.We need to add some kind of a topping.So it can be all kinds of fruits.Your favorite fruits,tteok rice cake on top,and also some people use jelly.But today, I'm using justmango and strawberry.Mango in Korea is very expensive.In America, it's cheap.In Korea. some hotel,they sell this kind during the summertime.Special mango patbingsu.It's using mango, lots ofmango, chunks of mango,and shaved ice and inside even more stuff.And they sell for more than $100.Can you believe that? So expensive.But people go to hotel to eat.So when you see, you guyssee kind of a black dot,there's a large seed inside.I can call this mango rib. (laughs)Beef rib, mango rib.I'm just eating. That's my bonus.I will eat it later.And we just gotta skin this.I use this way.So first, put this onmy palm and like this,cut this, cut along the edge,like this.Strawberry.Cut into to small pieces,around a half cup strawberry.This is rice cake, injeolmi.So patbingsu on top,only a few pieces, small pieces.That's what I need.Injeolmi is so easy to make.I'm gonna show you,especially this is for patbingsu.Just a small, small amount of rice cake.We need glutenous riceflour, a quarter cup.I have so many powders, right?Mung bean powder, starch powderand flour, rice flour.So this is the label.And then I put it in here,so that I never forget.So quarter cup only, we'llmake injeolmi this amount.And one teaspoon sugar.Pinch of salt and three tablespoons water.Mix it well.Just plastic wrap.So a little gap here, and microwave.One minute.This is toasted soybean powder.To make injeolmi, I always need this.This is soybean powder.(microwave beeping)So nutty.See? Very hot.Look at that.You see? Like this.Just stir this.So like this.And just some water herebecause very sticky.(bright music)Okay. I left this one.I'm going to eat.All the left over soybean powder.My beans are cooked. Let's check it out.The smells are good.The smells always make me excited.Wow. Usually water is left here.In that case, drain it.So now, almostall water is evaporated.But see, one bean, see. Well cooked.Cane sugar, one cup, andsalt, half a teaspoon.Vanilla essence, two teaspoons.And turn on the heat again, just low heat.So we are going to melt this sugar.I'm telling you, you canuse this sugar substitute.And probably you guys know this already,and this is zero calorie sweetener.So this is Swerve.I sometimes I use it.If you can't eat sugar,just use this Swerve.Now just melting.You see, shiny and pretty.Okay, around five minutes.I just keep stirringand it should drizzle, like this.And turn off.That's it. Sweet red bean.We made a nice sweet red bean.In 2011, when Iposted my patbingsu video,it was at the Googleoffice in New York City.I made patbingsu for 100 people.Two pots, big huge pots filledwith sweet red beans like this.I asked the Google people,\"We need a shaver,real ice shaver, really good,you know, a powerful ice shaver,can you find this?\"And then somebody whois in charge with that,she said, \"Yes.\"But when I got there, she couldn't find.She brought a big huge ice blockand we brought this cast iron hand shaver,just hand shaver. (laughs)And we made this byscratching, scraping the ice,and made this kind of snow mountain.And then people lined upto taste this Korean patbingsu.So we just gave them and then you know,the assembling is so easy, piece of cake.That was a good memory.Lot of people lining up.I just ask the question,\"What do you like or how do you like?Have you ever tasted this kind of thing?\"So many questions, they love it.(people chattering)(ice shaver scraping)- My fingers are a little numb.But otherwise, excellent.- This is amazing, delicious.- This is an ice, what is this called?- Patbingsu.- Patbingsu.- Shaved ice.- Shaved ice, this is so good.- It happened 2011.So now 12 years ago, it happened.I just miss that time.Whenever I make a recipe, I tell you,\"Oh, this is like,I used to make that for my family.\"And, \"I learned thisfrom my aunt,\" you know?All the recipe relatingstories are coming out.But this one is a good memory from Google.Google, YouTube. (laughs)You need to cool it down thoroughlyand put it in the containerand keep it in the refrigerator.It has to be cold because,you know, we shaved the ice.So we can't use this hot, sweet red bean.This is sweet red bean Imade already last night.This is made withSwerve, instead of sugar.One thing is missing.What is it?Ice!Maangchi, where is the ice?Where is the snow? (laughs)I gotta make this.These days, you guys have some nice,kind of good quality blender at home.Whatever method you use, just crushand very fine is better.It's like snow, right?I found out myblender really works well.I don't have to use anelectric ice shaver anymore.But if you guys have anelectric ice shaver, use it.(ice clinking)About two cup.Around three cup. You cangrind just a little by little.(blender whirs)Some milk. Milk around a quarter cup.And red beans like this.Wow. It looks good.Strawberry and mango.I ground more ice.Sweet red bean.This is two cups, so Ican make one more time.One cup, around one cup I use.And let's put the rice cake.Last touch, this issweetened condensed milk.We got a flag here. (laughs)Okay, nice.So this is patbingsu.You guys can make it. Let's eat.Okay, this guy is a hyssop.I planted hyssop.Yeah, nice.Rice cake.Mm, mm. Wow.Yummy, sweet. And chewy.Ice and milk. Inside, mango.Mm, so delicious.I like to keep eating. (laughs)Sweet, cold, and mango flavorand little bit tangy and chewy rice cake.And of course, the sweetred beans is amazing.This sweet red bean,I feel more comfortablebecause I didn't use sugar.Make me a little more comfortable.Today we made patbingsu,Korean sweet dessert,shaved ice with thesweet bean plus fruits.Enjoy my recipe.See you next time, bye!(upbeat music)\n"