Patbingsu (Shaved Ice with Sweet Red Beans)

The Korea Food Promotion Institute locates the roots of bingsu in the Joseon court's ice supply. Officials who received ice from the state storehouse at Seobinggo are recorded as crushing it into cold fruit punches (hwachae). The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture describes Seobinggo as an ice office beside the Han River in Seoul with eight storehouses that held the winter's harvest of river ice and released it from the third month of the following year to the court, civil and military officials, and the sick and prisoners. A Hansik magazine feature adds that cutting ice from the Han was brutal winter work, and that a poorly managed stock could cost an official his post. Ice was a privilege long before it was a dessert.

The red bean topping is the later, less certain part of the story. The Hansik institute says that putting sweetened red bean paste on shaved ice became common during the Japanese colonial period; other accounts differ. One food writer's survey of origin stories also records older Seoul residents who credited the post–Korean War years, when American surplus supplies met a growing taste for sweets, with the modern version, first from street vendors and then in cafes. These are recollections, not documented history, so the date and place of the first patbingsu remain open.

What is clearer is the dessert's range. The Hansik institute notes that fruit, coffee and green tea bingsu have since joined the classic, and red beans themselves have a long Korean career in porridge and rice cakes (see patjuk and pat).

• Fiber and plant protein: per the Korean Food Composition Table, dried red beans are about one-fifth protein and 15 g of fiber per 100 g.
• Potassium: dried adzuki beans are also a notable source of potassium in the same table.
• A light, cooling treat: a home-made bowl like the one above is much lighter than café versions with ice cream and syrups.

• Classic patbingsu: shaved ice with sweetened red beans, often with rice cake pieces and a drizzle of milk or condensed milk.
• Fruit, coffee and green tea: the Hansik institute lists these as later additions to the repertoire.
• Old-style with roasted-bean powder: one food writer describes the older style as milk-flavored ice with beans and roasted bean powder, and the cereal-and-fruit-cocktail version as a different tradition.
• Injeolmi style: topping the ice with rice cake and roasted soybean powder borrows from the rice cake injeolmi.