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Halo-halo
Shaved ice dessert
Filipino shaved ice layered with sweet beans, fruit, jelly, ube and evaporated milk
Halo-halo ('mix-mix') is what the Philippines eats through the hot dry months of March to May, bought from roadside stalls and snack shops and eaten slowly with a long spoon in a tall glass. Sweetened beans and chickpeas, banana cooked in brown sugar, jackfruit, nata de coco and sugar-palm fruit go in first, then a mountain of finely shaved ice, a splash of evaporated milk and a crown of ube halaya, a slice of leche flan or a scoop of ube ice cream, with crunchy pinipig (toasted pounded rice) on top. Unlike Malaysian ais kacang, there's no syrup over the ice: the sweetness comes from the layers and the milk. You stir everything together before eating. Chef's tip: chill the glasses and the toppings first so the ice doesn't melt before you have finished building.
- Total time
- 30 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the sweet bananas
- 2 saba or plantain bananasripe, sliced 1 cm thick
- 1 ¾ oz brown sugar
- ¼ cup water
For the glasses
- 4 oz sweetened red beansfrom a jar or can
- 4 oz nata de cocodrained
- 2 ⅞ oz sugar palm fruit (kaong)drained
- 3 ½ oz jackfruit in syrupcut into strips
- 3 ½ oz agar jelly cubes (gulaman) (optional)made with agar, never gelatine
- 1 ¾ lb icefinely shaved
- 1 cup evaporated milkchilled
Toppings
- 4 tbsp ube halaya (optional)
- 4 leche flan (optional)small slices
- 4 ube ice cream (optional)scoops
- ⅔ oz pinipig (toasted pounded rice) (optional)
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What you'll need
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Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Put 4 tall glasses in the freezer. Put 2 saba or plantain bananas, 1 ¾ oz brown sugar and ¼ cup water in a small pan over a medium heat and simmer for 8–10 minutes, turning the slices, until they are soft and coated in a thick amber syrup. Cool completely.
10 minStep 2: Divide 4 oz sweetened red beans, 2 ⅞ oz sweetened chickpeas (garbanzos), 4 oz nata de coco, 2 ⅞ oz sugar palm fruit (kaong), 3 ½ oz jackfruit in syrup, 3 ½ oz agar jelly cubes (gulaman) and the bananas with a little of their syrup between the cold glasses, about 3 heaped tablespoons of each layer per glass.
Step 3: Shave 1 ¾ lb ice as finely as you can, in a shaver or a blender on pulse, until it looks like snow. Coarse crushed ice is the common mistake: it sinks, melts fast and the milk runs straight to the bottom.
Step 4: Pack the ice into each glass and mound it high above the rim. Pour about 60 ml of 1 cup evaporated milk over each mound.
Step 5: Top each glass with 4 tbsp ube halaya, a slice of 4 leche flan, a scoop of 4 ube ice cream and a sprinkle of ⅔ oz pinipig (toasted pounded rice). Serve straight away with a long spoon and tell everyone to mix it all up before eating.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 380 kcal
- Protein
- 8 g
- Carbs
- 74 g
- Fat
- 6 g
- Fibre
- 5 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does halo-halo take?
- About 30 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of saba or plantain bananas?
- Mango, same weight (in smoothies and shakes).
- What can I use instead of brown sugar?
- White sugar + 1 tbsp molasses or treacle per 200g.
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