Patbingsu

Ingredients

• 14⅛ ozice cubesshave finely or crush in a blender; milk ice also possible
• 4 tbspsweetened red beanscanned or cooked from scratch
• 2 tbspsweetened condensed milkdrizzle over at the end
• 3 tbspRice cakesstore-bought or homemade, cut into small cubes
• 2¾ ozstrawberriessliced
• 2⅛ ozblueberrieswashed
• 1⅔ ozkiwithinly sliced (optional)
• 1⅔ ozpineapplechopped (optional)
• 2 tbspmisugaru (roasted grain powder)dust over the ice through a small sieve
• 5¼ ozSweet rice flouronly for homemade rice cakes (optional)
• Sugarfor sweetening the beans or rice cake batter (optional)
• Honeyfor sweetening home-cooked beans (optional)
• 1 pinchSaltfor beans and rice cakes (optional)

Method

1. Put your serving bowls in the freezer for about 10 minutes and chill all the ingredients well — the colder everything is, the longer the ice stays light and snowy.
2. If you want to cook the sweet adzuki beans from scratch, sort and rinse them, bring them to a boil for 5 minutes, then drain. Cover with fresh water and simmer gently for about 1 hour until soft, stirring now and then and topping up the water as needed. Stir in salt, sugar and honey, simmer uncovered for another 10 minutes, then cool and refrigerate.
3. For homemade rice cakes, whisk the sweet rice flour with sugar, salt and water until smooth, cover and microwave for 2–3 minutes until the mixture turns translucent. Let it rest for 5 minutes, knead for 2–3 minutes, press flat on a floured board and cut into small cubes.
4. Wash the fruit: slice the strawberries, drain the blueberries, cut the kiwi into thin slices and chop the pineapple small. Have all the toppings within reach.
5. Shave or blitz the ice cubes in a shaved ice machine, blender or food processor for about 20 seconds until you have fine, snowy ice. If you like, freeze the ice in a suitable container beforehand and shave it in one block.
6. Pile the shaved ice loosely into the ice-cold bowls without packing it down.
7. Dust the misugaru evenly over the ice through a small sieve.
8. Scatter the fruit, sweet adzuki beans and rice cake cubes over the top.
9. Finish with a drizzle of sweetened condensed milk and serve immediately, while the ice is still fluffy.

Tips and variations

Instead of plain water ice you can shave milk ice, which comes out creamier and milder. For the fruit, a berries-only version with strawberries and blueberries works just as well, and nuts, cookies, matcha powder or a scoop of green tea ice cream all make good extra toppings. The beans can go on as whole sweet adzuki beans or as sweet bean paste, and both the adzuki beans and the rice cakes can be bought ready-made or made entirely from scratch. Patbingsu tastes best straight from the pre-chilled bowls, right after assembling, while the ice is still fluffy.