Secretly Shaving Fish Storage Ice and Adding Raw Egg... The Origins of Bingsu [Delicious Stories]

Shaved ice introduced from Japan, originally topped with fruit syrup

Patbingsu gained popularity from the 1970s as the food industry grew

Now, fierce competition in premium bingsu with vibrant toppings

Editor's NoteThe earliest confectioneries are believed to have been found in ancient Mesopotamian civilizations. In this sense, sweets have been present throughout every moment of human history—from biscuits and chocolate to ice cream. We bring you delicious stories behind the snacks we love.

The face of Korean shaved ice is known as 'patbingsu,' topped with red beans, roasted grain powder, and rice cakes. However, in reality, patbingsu is a relatively recent dessert. In the past, when shaved ice was first introduced across the Korean Peninsula, fruit-topped shaved ice—without red beans—was far more popular. This is because the origins of Korean shaved ice lie in Japanese-style shaved ice from the era of Japanese colonial rule.

Shaved Ice Was Originally Topped With Syrup or Raw Egg, Not Red Beans

Japanese-style strawberry syrup shaved ice. It is presumed that the first form of shaved ice introduced to the Korean Peninsula was like this, and it is known that Bang Jeong-hwan mixed raw eggs into this shaved ice. Screenshot from the Japankuru website

Desserts made with crushed ice have existed across cultures since ancient times. For example, Emperor Nero of the Roman Empire is said to have enjoyed ice topped with fruit and honey, while East Asian records indicate the consumption of shaved ice as early as 3000 BCE. At a time when refrigeration technology did not exist, ice was so precious on the Korean Peninsula that it was typically an occasional delicacy reserved for royalty.

Shaved ice began to take root as a common dessert in Korea during the Japanese colonial period. This was due to the introduction of ice-making factories and ice shavers domestically, leading to the opening of shaved ice confectionery shops, mainly in urban areas. Nonetheless, shaved ice at that time was not the patbingsu familiar to us today, but rather Japanese-style fruit shaved ice. The common method was to pile finely shaved ice into a bowl and pour fruit syrup over the top before eating it.

A vivid record of the era’s most popular shaved ice can be found in a piece by prominent child rights activist Bang Jeonghwan in the magazine "Byulkyeonrok." According to his writing, Bang was especially fond of breaking a raw egg over ice drizzled with strawberry syrup and eating it together.

In the 1920s, Some Secretly Made Shaved Ice With Fish Storage Ice... The Market Grew as the Confectionery Industry Developed

Korean-style patbingsu topped with various toppings such as red beans, rice cakes, and grain powders. Pixabay

The patbingsu we know today most likely originated after Korea's liberation from colonial rule. In fact, even during the Japanese occupation, there existed a Japanese dessert called ‘ice-pat’—finely crushed ice topped with sweetened red beans. However, one ingredient essential to patbingsu, sweetened condensed milk, only became available domestically after the Korean War, brought in by the U.S. military.

Patbingsu gained popularity in Korea starting in the 1970s, a time characterized by rapid economic growth and the emergence of food companies as well as the establishment of food hygiene regulations. Previously, some unscrupulous vendors would secretly use ice intended for fish storage to make shaved ice, leading to hygiene issues. There is even a record of the Japanese Governor-General’s Office promulgating a law regarding ice management in 1921 in response to such problems.

By contrast, the 1970s saw the rise of Korean confectionery companies like Crown, Lotte, and Daesang, which mass produced processed foods. Thanks to this development, toppings for shaved ice—such as canned red beans, grain powder, jelly, and glutinous rice cakes—became readily available.

Contemporary Shaved Ice: Competition Over High-End Bingsu

Currently, Korean bingsu is competing in the premium bingsu market by using expensive ingredients as toppings. Screenshot from Lotte Hotel website

Today, Korean-style shaved ice continues to evolve, with toppings becoming increasingly luxurious. With the emergence of shaved ice specialty brands such as 'Sulbing,' a market for premium bingsu—with extravagant toppings like fruit, cheese, and chocolate—has opened up.

Major domestic hotels have also entered the fray, making the competition for high-end bingsu even fiercer. For example, 'apple mango bingsu,' which consists of milk-flavored ice topped lavishly with fresh apple mango, has become a summer specialty at hotels across Korea, with prices ranging from 100,000 to 150,000 won.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.