One of the things which East and SE Asia love - and which is uncommon in Europe - is shaved ice desserts. (This, alongside 'drinks with solid stuff in them' and 'hot pots on the table'.)
And bingsu is the (now rather trendy) Korean version. When I suggested Bingsu to my local friend, he said, "But bingsu is just ais kacang*, but Korean and made much more expensive!" He had a point, but we ordered it anyway. In fact, the Korean dessert is similar in concept to ais kacang. But it was SO MUCH MORE YUM! OK, we tried this in Singapore (which tbf has pretty good Japanese offerings for the region, so perhaps we did quite well with the Korean too?) But I can only imagine how good bingsu must actually be in Korea; because this was a bijou feastette!
The two key factors which distinguish bingsu (even from the glamorous Chinese 'snow ice' desserts I have tried) are a) ludicrously powdery, light, shaved ice b) creaminess.
Our try was a mango one. It consisted of fluffy ice, fresh mango chunks, mango coulis, whipped cream, mango ice-cream, and sweetened condensed milk to pour over it for extra sweet-and-creaminess (+ cholesterol). I think there was some cream (and more mango) in the lower layers of the pudding too. When this lot melted down to the last spoonfuls, it was like slightly sweet milk. (When ais kacang melts down, it is like slightly sweet water).
OK, this guy did not come cheap. It was about SGD17 (GBP9.75) for this two-person portion. (Which is much better value than a single portion, but still pretty hefty for Singapore). I think mango was the priciest choice on the menu. But it was outrageously delicious. A once-a-month treat, perhaps?
FYI traditional Korean shaved ice desserts (which use red bean as a key ingredient) are known as 'patbingsu'. Others are simply 'bingsu'.
We went to Nunsaram Korean Dessert Cafe, Orchard Central mall, Orchard Road, Singapore. http://www.burpple.com/nunsaram-korean-dessert-cafe
* Ais Kacang (pron 'ice kuh-chung' = Malay for 'ice with nuts' or 'ice with nuts-fruits-syrups-and-sprinkle-stuff') is a range of cheerful hawker shaved ice desserts you can pick up easily and cheaply in Malaysia and Singapore!
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