Halo-Halo

Ingredients

Sweet layers, 1-2 tbsp of each per glass

• 200 gsweetened red mung or kidney beans (monggo)
• 150 gsweetened garbanzos
• 150 gkaong (sugar palm fruit), drained
• 150 gnata de coco (coconut gel cubes), drained
• 150 gmacapuno (coconut sport strings)
• 150 gsaba bananas cooked in syrup (minatamis na saging)
• 150 gjackfruit (langka) in syrup, shredded
• 150 ggulaman (agar-agar jelly), cut into 1 cm cubes

To top

• 200 gube halaya (purple yam jam)
• 4 slicesleche flan
• 4scoops ube ice cream
• 4 tbsppinipig (toasted pounded young rice)

To assemble

• 1.2 kgfinely shaved ice
• 400 mlevaporated milk, ice cold

Directions

1. Put the tall glasses in the freezer for an hour. The whole dish lives or dies on temperature.
2. Drain every sweet component thoroughly in a sieve. Syrup carried into the glass dilutes the milk and turns the bottom to soup.
3. Spoon 1–2 tbsp of each sweet into the bottom third of each glass, in visible stripes against the glass. Beans and the chewiest things go at the bottom.
4. Pack shaved ice on top, mounded well above the rim. It must be shaved, not crushed: crushed ice is gritty and melts unevenly.
5. Pour 80–100 ml of ice-cold evaporated milk over the mound and let it soak down through the ice.
6. Crown it with a spoonful of ube halaya, a slab of leche flan, a scoop of ube ice cream and a heavy shower of pinipig.
7. Serve at once with a long spoon and the instruction the name gives: halo-halo means mix-mix. Stir everything up from the bottom before the first mouthful.

Technique

• It descends from Japanese kakigori, brought to Manila by pre-war migrants, and became Filipino by absorbing local preserved sweets. There is no fixed list of components; what matters is contrast, so aim for creamy, chewy, crunchy and very cold in every spoonful.
• Evaporated milk, not fresh milk, and not condensed. Its cooked, concentrated flavour is the taste of the dish, and the sweets are already in syrup so extra sugar makes it cloying.
• The ice must be shaved fine, from a hand shaver or a proper machine. A blender gives slush that waters out within a minute of pouring the milk.

Substitutions

• No ube halaya or ube ice cream: a big spoon of thick coconut jam and a scoop of vanilla, which is what many provincial stalls serve.
• No pinipig: toasted rice cereal or toasted desiccated coconut for the same crunch.
• No kaong or macapuno: sweetened white beans and tinned lychee, drained hard.

Variations

• The Iloilo style, heavy on leche flan and light on jellies.
• Pampanga’s version, which leans on the beans and adds a scoop of ube.
• Halo-halo especial, which everywhere means an extra slab of flan and an extra scoop of ice cream.

History

Shaved ice with beans, jellies and leche flan, descended from Japanese kakigori sold by pre-war Japanese migrants in Manila.

Frequently asked questions

What is Halo-Halo?

Halo-Halo is a dessert from Philippines: layered shaved ice with sweet beans, jellies, ube and leche flan. Shaved ice with beans, jellies and leche flan, descended from Japanese kakigori sold by pre-war Japanese migrants in Manila.

How long does Halo-Halo take to make?

Halo-Halo takes 40 min of preparation and 3 hr chilling of cooking. The recipe makes 4 tall glasses. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Halo-Halo?

Yes, within limits. No ube halaya or ube ice cream: a big spoon of thick coconut jam and a scoop of vanilla, which is what many provincial stalls serve. No pinipig: toasted rice cereal or toasted desiccated coconut for the same crunch. No kaong or macapuno: sweetened white beans and tinned lychee, drained hard.

What is the most important thing to get right in Halo-Halo?

Put the tall glasses in the freezer for an hour. The whole dish lives or dies on temperature.