When city dessert bar Nimbo first opened, some customers mistook its Korean-inspired shaved ice treat bingsu for scoops of desiccated coconut. A year later, Melburnians have become much more bingsu-savvy, and are prepared to queue for the most eye-catching creations, some of which attract up to 30,000 views on TikTok.

At its most basic, bingsu is a mound of milk-based ice shavings covered with various toppings. Traditionally, these were red beans, condensed milk and powdered injeolmi (glutinous rice and toasted soy bean). But the Korean dessert has become a freewheeling bowl of refreshment stacked high with cultural influences.

In Melbourne, there are five bingsu shops in an area equivalent to one city block, each offering wildly different interpretations of the treat. More shops are dotted across the suburbs, from Maidstone to Glen Waverley, with names such as Bling Bing and Bing Chillin. But Lonsdale and La Trobe streets in Melbourne’s CBD are bingsu central.

Scoopy, which started with a 2018 pop-up and claims to be Melbourne’s first bingsu shop, offers “Australian bingsu” using flavours such as Mork chocolate, matcha, and Vietnamese iced coffee, and introducing the dessert to first-time visitors as “shaved ice-cream”.

“We’re not Korean, so when we introduced bingsu to Melbourne… we wanted to bring the flavours that were representative of our upbringings here as Asian Australians,” says co-owner Angelo Labrador, who is Filipino. His business partner Kevin Nguyen is Vietnamese.

Unlike traditional Korean recipes, many Melbourne makers use fresh rather than powdered milk for their shaved ice.

The ultra-fine strands of creamy ice are whizzed into bowls by machines that flash-freeze the liquid and cut it into powdery shavings. Then come the toppings, which bring various textures and, importantly, eye candy for TikTok and Instagram.

Many cultures, including Malaysian, Hawaiian and Italian, have their own shaved ice desserts. Bingsu’s murky origins – the result of decades of Chinese, Japanese and American influence in Korea – mean that even the “traditional” elements of bingsu are hotly debated.

Red beans were probably a Japanese addition, a callback to Japan’s own shaved ice dessert kakigori, while condensed milk was first made commercially in America.

Evolution is fundamental to bingsu’s identity. “It’s not a traditional Korean thing,” according to Levi Eun, who runsOndo cafes in Armadale and Melbourne. “We are influenced so much by Japanese culture.”

Eun says bingsu is even more popular in Australia than in Korea, where people are more likely to go out for coffee or some other dessert.

Fans in Melbourne are prepared to pay up to $26 for a dessert for two.

In Melbourne, petite Nimbo often has a line snaking out the door. People are waiting for ube bingsu in a deep shade of lavender, a tropical-looking bowl of melon balls and jelly on ice, or the clashing colour combination of green tea matcha and mango.

Co-owner Raymond Tan, a Malaysian-born pastry chef who also owns Raya bakery on Little Collins Street, started the shop with his cousin, Chian Ting, because they had so many ideas for styles of bingsu they’d like to eat.

Making every element from scratch, whether it’s matcha Basque cheesecake or finger lime whipped cream, is important to Tan. It also helps to set Nimbo apart.

“People were expecting us to be a regular bingsu shop, but now they come to us for a different take,” Tan says.

Every season, Nimbo changes its menu to make the most of seasonal fruit such as strawberries, and to adapt to customers’ palates and preferences. In winter, for example, they serve richer flavours such as honey-pumpkin bingsu.

The dessert’s growing popularity in Australia comes down to it being both familiar (shaved ice) and a symbol of Korean culture, which is enjoying attention around the world, according to Labrador and Nguyen.

“There’s K-pop, K-beauty, K-desserts, Korean barbecue, Korean fried chicken. The other part to that is: what do Koreans have for dessert?” says Labrador.

Five places to try bingsu

Homm

Bingsu has also made waves in Thailand, where it’s been combined with popular Thai desserts to create an exciting sub-genre of bingsu. Get a taste in Melbourne at this Thai-run dessert cafe, which serves the icy dessert in flavours such as Thai milk tea and mango sticky rice. Texture is a big focus and toppings include crumble, whipped cheese, gelato and sweet sticky rice.

CBD and Box Hill locations, hommdessert.com.au

Matta

Korean-born Minnie Jeong celebrates her heritage at her two eastern suburbs cafes. Milk-based bingsu topped with tapioca pearls and taiyaki, the fish-shaped Japanese sweet treats, are a nod to her family’s Japanese restaurants in Korea. The dish sits neatly among savoury dishes including chicken katsu sandos and miso omelettes.

Balwyn and Blackburn North locations, mattafood.com

Nimbo

There’s no way you’ll find run-of-the-mill bingsu here. Co-owner Raymond Tan applies his pastry chef prowess to create only-in-Melbourne combinations such as the signature melon with chrysanthemum jelly, or a Japanese-meets-Spain mash-up of matcha Basque cheesecake with red bean paste. Ice comes in either a Jersey milk or oat milk base.

119 Hardware Street, Melbourne, instagram.com/hereisnimbo

Scoopy

A bingsu pioneer in Melbourne, this shop has three locations, including one where you can DIY your bingsu. Take cues from Scoopy’s menu, which features the likes of taro ice with blueberry popping pearls, tapioca pearls and taro mochi, and Thai milk tea bingsu topped with grass jelly, mango jelly and other textural delights. The ice base of Scoopy’s bingsu is made from both cream and Jersey milk for a rich, fluffy mouthfeel.

CBD and Glen Waverley locations, scoopy.com.au

Sulbing Cafe

This South Korean export has 10 years in the bingsu game (and has been operating in Australia for four). Trust them with classic toppings such as red bean and injeolmi (glutinous rice cakes with toasted soy beans). Or push the boat out with strawberry Black Forest, green tea and chocolate ice-cream, or Oreo-flavoured bowls.

168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, sulbingcafe.com.au