culture

As the boiling hot weather persists, shaved ice stalls in different parts of Pyongyang are always packed with customers.

Among them is the shaved ice stall of the Taesong District Restaurant Group.

The taste and flavour of the shaved ice change according to what kind of subsidiary ingredient is used, such as red bean, tomato, melon and watermelon.

As ice-cream and different kinds of jams are scooped onto the shaved ice, customers spontaneously shout “Wow, it looks refreshing”.

“Among different varieties, the red bean shaved ice is the best. When the refreshing ice and sweet red bean jam melt in the mouth, it tastes really delicious,” said a middle-aged woman who bought red bean shaved ice at the stall.

As if to agree with her, the stallholder said that red bean contains many nutritive substances, including proteins, fat, vitamins and sugar, so eating it after sweating is good for health.

Customers say that shaved ice is the best food they go for in the sweltering midsummer heat.

The stallholder told the customers, who were savouring different kinds of shaved ice with smile on their faces, that shaved ice not only relieves heat but also replenishes nutritive substances consumed through sweating according to the nutritional characteristics of subsidiary ingredients.

For instance, the shave ice added with apple and black chokeberry is effective in raising the function of the cardiovascular system, the one with fruits of matrimony vine and grapes helps improve the nutrition of human body and the one with honey and grapes is good for children and old people with weak immunity.

The shaved ice stalls are attracting a constant stream of customers with the mouthwatering cold foods and good service.