The creamy, paper-thin ribbons are shaved off a huge cylindrical block at
Barouh discovered the Taiwanese treat during a trip to visit his girlfriend's family in her California hometown, and he instantly recognized the business potential in the dessert.
“I thought, Wow, this is really cool. How come I’ve never tried this? I wish we had something like this in Miami,” he says.
With a professional background in hedge funds and real estate, Barouh is a self-proclaimed “finance guy” with no culinary experience. He says the challenge was completely out of his comfort zone, and he approached the idea from a purely business perspective. He quickly realized that to maximize profits, he’d need to create the product himself.
So he contacted the manufacturer of the specially designed machine and flew to Taiwan to learn how to operate it.
“I learned from the people who originated the dessert — it’s been in their family for generations,”
This mainstreaming took months of trial-and-error with both the recipe and the operation of the machine. Barouh made batch after batch, striving to perfect the product.
“What I was shooting for was to have something similar to the consistency of Dippin’ Dots, but paper-thin,” he says. “I said to myself, If you can taste ice with it when you bite down on it... even if you feel, like, that crunchiness of the ice, then it’s not right.”
In addition to creating the unique texture,
A dish of Mr. Bing is delicious, stunning, and contains less than 100 calories per 3.5-ounce serving. According to
Even though abandoning his stable career was a huge risk, Barouh is not looking back.
“My biggest reward is when I see people’s faces light up when they try
You can find Mr. Bing at local events, including South Beach Wine & Food Festival's Grand Tasting Village this weekend. The truck will also be in Coconut Grove at 3433 Main Hwy. from 5 to 10 p.m. this Friday and at Flagler Arts & Technology Village Artwalk in Fort Lauderdale from 6 to 10 p.m. this Saturday. Follow the truck at mrbing.com.
Barouh is operating Mr. Bing out of a commercial kitchen in Opa-