Halo Halo

It's summertime in the Philippines and the weather is as hot as can be. During this season when sweat just keeps on dripping and eating something cold taunts your mind all day, Halo-Halo seems to be the best solution. 

"Halo" in English means "mix". So Halo-Halo is mixing ingredients together to create this tasty dessert. Yum! 

Below are the basic ingredients in making a delicious Halo-Halo. Some are optional depending on your taste. As for me, I don't like eating beans so I leave it out. The beans doesn't taste horrible or anything, but it's kind of hard and chewy so I'm really not a fan of it. But if you want to experience Halo-Halo's authentic taste, then I suggest you have to follow all the ingredients and try eating the "beans" as well. Tell me if you don't like it, but don't tell me if you do. Haha! All the ingredients are available whole year round in our country. When you come visit the Philippines you can enjoy this anytime of the year. But you don't have to go to the Philippines to try out this delicacy. You can make this at home. It's very easy and simple to make. 



Here's what you'll need: 

Ice shavings - very important!
Evaporated milk
Ripe banana - sliced
Ripe mango - cubed/sliced
Slice of leche flan (creme caramel)
Shredded young coconut
Sweet corn kernels
Sweetened red beans
Sweetened jackfruit
Kaong (sweet palm fruit)
Nata de coco (coconut gelatin)
Ube jam (purple yam)
Cooked sago (cooked pearls) - tapioca can be used as substitute
Rice krispies or corn flakes
Scoop of ice cream preferably mango or ube flavor - vanilla ice cream can be used as substitute


Below are some of the ingredients you may not be familiar with or it may be called differently in your country:
*note: I don't own the images shown below. Some may be subject to copyright. 

Ube Jam (purple yam)

Leche Flan (creme caramel)

 

Kaong in red, white and green

Cooked Sago (pearls)

Nata de Coco

Now it's time to make some Halo-Halo! 

Steps: 

1. Prepare a tall glass or a bowl.

2. Set aside the ice shavings, ube jam, rice krispies, leche flan, ice cream and evaporated milk.

3. Put all the remaining ingredients in the glass. A tablespoon of each ingredients will do. I like to layer mine with the smallest ingredients first in the bottom. 

4. Next, fill the glass with ice shavings until full. 

5. Pour evaporated milk up to your desired amount. 

6. Top it with a scoop or two of ice cream, a slice of leche flan, and sprinkle with rice krispies or corn flakes.

Before we can start enjoying this dessert we have to "halo" or mix it. Mixing it is a bit tricky especially if you're using a tall glass so a tall spoon would be perfect. Now when you start mixing, it might get a little messy but don't worry, it's absolutely normal. I still get messy even after years of eating it. You can add sugar if you like, but remember, most of the ingredients are already sweet. So adding sugar might not be necessary, but a teaspoon won't hurt, I guess. 

Here are some of the serving suggestions you might want to try. 

Tell me what you think after trying this amazing recipe yourself. Happy eating!