HALO-HALO: TRADITIONAL SUMMER TREAT IN THE PHILIPPINES
Halo-Halo is a traditional Filipino treat consisting of a blend of fruits, sweet preserves, evaporated milk, and shaved ice. It is frequently topped with a scoop of ice cream. Halo literally means mix - "Mix-Mix."
It is a favorite Filipino craving for cold dessert especially during summer, just as ice cream. It is usually served in tall, clear glasses that show its colorful contents that tempt one's taste buds. One's thirst is even made worse by the perspiring ice-filled glass, and the melting ice cream on top.
It is basically a mixture of sweet preserved beans(red beans / chick peas), coconut meat (macapuno), jackfruit (langka), pounded dried rice (pinipig), sweet yam (ube), cream flan (leche flan), shreds of sweetened plantain (saba), filled with crushed ice, milk and topped with ice cream. The halo-halo basically is sweet, creamy, and a filling dessert.
image from Philippine Hospitaltiy by O'Boyle and Alejandro, 1988
Halo-Halo Ingredients:
Kaong (sweet palm fruit)
Macapuno (silky coconut)
Langka (jackfruit)
Red Munggo (mung beans / kidney beans)
Saba (banana-like plantain)
Ube (purple yam)
Mais (corn kernels)
Nata de Coco (coconut gelatin)
Pinipig (dried rice, pounded)
Custard or crème caramel (leche plan)
Sago (pearls similar to boba)
Garabanzos (chick peas)
http://southbound.ph/blog/wp-content/photos/bellevue/bellevue-halohalo.jpg " /> Image Credit Halo-halo ingredients
How to Make Halo-Halo (Tropical Fruit Melange)
Combine kaong (sweet palm fruit), macapuno (shredded coconut), langka (jackfruit) and red munggo (mung beans) in a parfait glass. Other ingredients are slices of saba (plantains), chunks of ube (purple yam), mais (corn kernels), nata de coco (coconut gelatin) and pinipig (pounded dried rice).
Image Credit Pinipig
2 tablespoons kaong (sweet palm fruit)
Image Credit kaong
2 tablespoons langka (jackfruit)
2 tablespoons macapuno (shredded coconut )
2 tablespoons sweetened kidney beans or red mung beans (optional)
2 tablespoons sweetened garabanzos (chick peas) optional
2 tablespoons sweetened plantains
2 tablespoons ube (purple yam)
2 tablespoons custard or crème caramel
2 tablespoons sweetened corn kernels
Image Credit Nata de Coco
2 tablespoons of nata de coco (coconut gelatin)
1 tablespoon of pinipig (pounded dried rice)
1 tablespoon of sago (pearls similar to boba)
crushed ice (preferably ice made from mineral water) to fill glass
2/3 evaporated milk or fresh milk if possible
a scoop of ice cream on top
Top with crushed ice, evaporated milk and a scoop of ice cream. Some do not want to add some ingredients like red mung beans and chick peas so some ingredients are left to be optional, as you wish.
Note: Make sure to halo (mix) thoroughly before digging in. Yes, mixing all those goodies at the bottom without spilling the ice and ice cream off the glass is a skill that needs to be perfect by regular indulgence!
Reference:
http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Tagalog_Default_files/Philippine_Culture/halo_halo.htm
http://tagaloglang.com/Filipino-Food/Say-it-in-Tagalog/halo-halo-ingredients.html
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