Halo-Halo

“Halo-Halo” is the most popular dessert in the Philippines. If you have a sweet tooth, this is the dessert for you. I was in the Mall of Asia in Manila when I had one of this famous halo-halo. It’s so colorful and looks so delicious. Halo-halo means a mixture of things in Tagalog. It’s a cornucopia of tropical delights. The origins of halo-halo is unknown but because Philippines has almost always hot weather so people tend to find something cool to snack on. So halo-halo is a necessary invention to relieve thirst and heat. Originally in the rural places, halo-halo is sold in almost every corner. All you need is a shaver for ice and the ingredients are pretty much accessible. In my hometown, we used saba (cooking banana) and sweet potataoes, both diced and caramelized.Then whatever fruit in season, one example is cantaloupe, which is grated and serve together with the rest of ingredients. Jackfruit, sweet corn, young coconut (buko) grated, even avocados. They put everything in a tall glass or a bowl, then top with shaved ice, pour evaporated milk on it and then top with crispy roasted rice we call “pinipig”. We also put gelatine, colored in red or green. But nowadays, they served halo-halo with sweet beans (kidney or garbanzo), sago ( fruit of palms) nata de coco, nata de pinya, and macapuno (coconut sport). They top it with different flavors of ice cream, leche flan, or halayang ube ( sweet purple yam). That would be considered Halo-halo Espesyal. I call it decadence.
Most of the ingredients are sold in jars and available at almost grocery stores so you can easily put them together, crush some ice in the blender, and voila! Instant halo-halo!