To continue with the Summer Coolers theme, let’s talk about one of the more well-known cold drink/ dessert/ snack from the Philippines: the halo-halo. The halo-halo is similar to the shirokuma from Japan and patbingsu from Korea. They all just differ in ingredients.
Halo-Halo is from the Tagalog word halo, which translates to mix in English.
During the summer period in the country (which is from March till May), halo-halo vendors pop up on just about every street corner hawking their sweet, icy goods. These usually go from Php 15.00 to Php 40.00, depending on whether you get the regular or the special. The “special” costs more because it has more ingredients, some of which might not be included in the “regular.
Sentro 1771 Halo-Halo Small Php 175.00; Regular Php 150.00
Halo-halo typically contains saba (plantains), kamote (sweet potato), white kidney beans, red mung beans, garbanzos, nata de coco, kaong, gulaman (gelatine), pinipig, tapioca, langka (jackfruit), ube (purple yam), and sugar. These are all placed in a glass or bowl and then topped with a mound of shaved ice. It then gets doused with evaporated milk and finally, topped with some leche flan (custard) and, in some cases, ube ice cream.
Most fruits and root crops used in halo-halo are cooked in syrup, but you can also use fresh fruits if you wish. I’ve tried halo-halo that has strips of fresh buko (young coconut), melon and ripe mangoes.This halo-halo from Cafe Illustrado has fresh watermelon balls.
Halo-halo @ Cafe Illustrado, SM Makati
Their version also has big chunks of langka (jackfruit), ube (purple yan)jam, a scoop of ube ice cream, a slice of leche flan (custard), and a sprinkling of rice crispies. The rice crispies are used in place of another typical ingredient,the pinipig.
The beauty of halo-halo, although very popular during the summer time, is that it is available year-round. You can find halo-halo at most Filipino restaurants as part of their regular desserts menu, so it can be enjoyed at just about any time of the year.
