Bàobing (Taiwanese ice cream)
August27
Bàobing (shavings of ice) is an extremely popular dessert in Taiwan. It most closely resembles traditional American ice cream, however it is considered to be lighter and healthier (!!). The base of bàob?ng is composed of extremely thin ice shavings. Sometimes water is frozen with milk and then shaved off to create a slightly more substantial texture. The ice shavings can then be topped with a variety of fruit (strawberries, passion fruit, coconut, plums) as well as the more traditional toppings such as sweetened red beans (see picture). The entire dish is then usually topped with sweetened condensed milk. I never thought beans would play such a leading role in my desserts, but hey, when in Rome…
They do have a few more ’standard’ toppings such as chocolate syrup, but for some reason that seems to resemble the taste of nail polish instead of chocolate. There is also a version (if the description wasn’t lost in translation) where the original ice shavings are mixed with a type of peanut butter to create a kind of peanut butter ice cream also topped with condensed milk. I have yet to try that one but luckily its always perfect ice cream weather here, year-round (aka. always really hot).
