Skip to main content

Pinoy Dessert Cooler : Halo-Halo

Halo-halo is most probably the most popular Pinoy dessert not only here in the Philippines but also abroad.



It's a visual feast of colors of its different ingredients, a melange of flavors and texture, and a perfect cooler/dessert. 
There are a thousand and one ways of making halo-halo but basically it's just a mix of crushed iced, milk, sugar and "the works".



The latter includes leche flan, ube halaya, kaong, nata, sago, sweetened beans, minatamis na saging, sweet potato, fresh fruit , and a whole lot more - yeah lots of it.). It is also often topped with ice cream, most popular of which is the ube (purple yam) flavor.


And popular as it is, it is even made even more special (and interactive) as restaurants and hotels offer a Halo-halo buffet where you can concoct and mix your own halo-halo to your hearts content.



A staple during the weekday lunch buffet at Days Hotel Iloilo and one my favorites stations is their halo-halo corner. There I can mix and match to my hearts content every quality ingredient for a delicious halo-halo and not just a mix of colorful sagos, ice and milk. I usually don't put sugar when I make my halo-halo.
Buko Halo-Halo at The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo.
Also, Freska Hometown Buffet offers a halo-halo station that comes with  sorbetes (popularly referred to as "dirty ice cream") in the authentic sorbetes container and stand.





And with that I made a less traditional halo-halo, just a mix of ube sorbetes, sweetened coconut and sago to add color. Namit gid!
And here's a simple home-made halo-halo made with fresh slices of bananas, green and yellow Jell-o, cream-style corn, minatamis na saging (sweetened bananas),  shaved ice, evaporated milk and a little sugar. It's just  throwing in what's available in the fridge!



Popular posts from this blog

Valenciana

Ilonggos really love valenciana because most if not all have grown accustomed of having it in almost all occasions like fiesta, brithdays, reunions and all other occasions thus I love calling it as the "occasional dish".   Basically, " go, grow and glow " dish, it has the carbohydrates, protein and vitamins and minerals in just one spoonful. And it can come in its simplest form with just malagkit rice, pork, chorizo and bell peppers to some fancy with additions like raisins, peas, chicken, hardboiled egg (just garnish though), etc.  Here's the recipe for Valenciana Ingredients 3 cups Glutinous Rice ( malagkit ) 2 cups Pork, sliced 1 cup Pork, Beef or Chicken  Liver, sliced 2-3 pieces Chinese sausage, sliced 2-3 large red bell peppers, sliced lengthwise 1 cup Green Peas 3 small boxes Raisins 2 pcs.Onion, chopped 4 cloves garlic, crushed salt and ground pepper to taste  2 pcs. pork/chicken bouillon/broth cube...

Native Bibingka

There are two types of bingka I've grown up with. First is the flat and "coconutty" ( with lots of buko strips) bingka made famous by the bingkahans in the plazas of Iloilo City especially in Molo and Jaro plus Plaza Libertad. But the most famous is the one in Mohon, Arevalo which gave birth to the popular bingka sa Mohon. Flat bingka from Mohon And second is the one closer to home, in my hometown which before only appears during Semana Santa but now almost year round. This is what we refer to a puto-bingka as it looks and taste like toasted puto. Here's a sample recipe of this Puto-Bingka

Simple Pochero Ilonggo

POCHERO. The most familiar recipes are the ones stewed with tomatoes (or tomato sauce) or the Cebu variant which is like bulalo or nilaga, but the pochero I grew up with is just very simple. It's just pork cooked with potatoes and/or saba (cooking banana) with kamote tops or pechay. I just love the mild sweetness of the broth brought about by the bananas to the savory broth. Or sometimes, it tends lean more of the tomato based recipe, just without the tomato itself or sauce. The recipe is just very simple - just boil the pork first until tender. Add the "hard" veggies like potatoes, saba, carrots, etc then finally when the leafy veggies when its almost done. Just season it with salt or broth cubes for a savory broth. Here's a recipe guide for a simple Pochero Ilonggo