Pat bing soo is a popular
summer dessert in
Korea.
Pat is a sweet
red bean common in a lot of Asian
pastry.
Bing soo is Korean for "
iceberg". As the literal translation hints at, it's a dish full of crushed ice topped with red beans,
ice cream,
pineapple,
mango slices, cherries, and jelly beans. It's a kind of
sundae,
fruit salad, and slushy all rolled into one.
It's on the menu of most popular fast food joints in Korea, including
McDonald's,
Burger King,
KFC, and a homegrown burger joint called
Lotteria (home of the world famous
kimchi burger and the warm wet towel dispensing machine). It's usually a summer item, or at least hits menus when the weather turns warm, which is about the beginning of April in much of Korea.
A bowl of pat bing soo runs about 2,500
won or US$2.50. That's actually pricey in Korea where you can get a decent lunch for $2.50 including beverage and soup. You do get a pretty big bowl and Koreans would tend to share a single bowl between two.
Much like eating an
Oreo cookie, there are two competing theories on how to eat pat bing soo. Some believe in mixing everything at the start. Others believe in a more layered approach, eating the ice cream first and then other favorite fruit bits before mixing the rest.