What kind of cheese is 눈꽃치즈 (snow cheese)?

Question

눈꽃치즈 is typically translated into English as "snow cheese" on Korean menus (and sometimes "Hangulized" as 스노치즈). In most food pictures it just appears to be a very finely shredded, light-colored cheese. My best guess is that it's mozzarella, parmesan, or a whitish variety of cheddar, but it's hard to tell just by looking at it. This leaves me wondering if 눈꽃치즈 is even a particular kind of cheese at all, or if it's a catch-all expression for very finely shredded/powdered cheese sprinkled over a dish. So, my question: **Is 눈꽃치즈 a particular kind of cheese, and if so, what kind of cheese is it?**

Answer 1

In winter, when snow is wrapped in a bony branch, we say snow flowers (눈꽃) bloomed. Cheese or shaved ice looks like snow wrapped, so it metaphorically used that word 눈꽃 to make a name. So you can think of it as the name of the shape, not the type of cheese. ^^

Answer 2

Very lovely question!

You are correct that 눈꽃치즈 is a very finely shredded/sliced cheese. It is not a type of cheese like mozzarella, parmesan, etc. Another example would be 눈꽃빙수. This does not mean that this 빙수 is another type of 빙수. It just indicates that the ice particles are very small just like snowflakes.