Halo-Halo

This ultimate Filipino summer treat, Halo-halo is a sure and delicious way to cool down. With the combination of shaved ice and many different layers of sweet beans, fruits and other treats then drizzled with milk. Let us not forget the toppings, leche flan, ube halaya or even ube ice cream!

Halo-halo’ is a Tagalog word that means mixed,  as that is what this is basically. A concoction of various sweet treats that are put together to culminate into one great cold treat. A colorful medley that is sure to cheer you up even on the hottest and most humid of days.

Eating Halo-halo brings me back to the happiest memories of hot summer days well spent with my siblings and cousins. We grew up spending the entire school summer vacations at my grandparents’ house. This is also where I grew up before we moved to the city when I was 7. Most of our cousins lived in Manila, then.

I believe it was our lolo Itay’s wish that his children and grandchildren stay with them once school is out and it became a family tradition. One that I am very much happy and grateful for as it created a special bond between us, cousins, that stayed even now.

It would be like more than 20 kids in one house at a time! Can you imagine all the kinds of trouble that could create? But funny enough, I do not remember anyone having a fight. We would tag-team against other kids, sure, but never against each other.

We would do everything together. Depending on your age bracket, you will be assigned a task. The older girls are the ones who prepare the meals. Others would be in charge of cleanup. The younger kids have different parts of the house to clean.  We would all play together or go for long strolls, discovering parts unknown of the barrio.

HALO-HALO INGREDIENTS

There is really no written rule as to what ingredients you can put in halo-halo or how many. It usually varies from region to region. Usually, whatever fruits or root crops that are endemic to a location is a good candidate.

Here are some of the most common halo-halo ingredients that are used:

• crushed or shaved ice

• milk (fresh or evaporated)

• sugar, if needed

• sweetened saba or plantain bananas

• sweetened sweet potatoes

• fresh or sweetened langka (jack fruit)

• sweetened garbanzos or beans

• coconut strips or sweetened macapuno

• sweetened red munggo

• nata de coco (coconut gel)

• sago or tapioca pearls or jelly cut into cubes

• pinipig

• leche flan (topping)

• ube jam or ube ice cream (topping)