Make Halo Halo
Literally translated, it means "Mix-Mix" in Filipino. It is a refreshing and elegant mid-afternoon snack/beverage, a far cry from the regular cookies and milk fare, always served in a tall glass with a long teaspoon (or a big spoon), on a small plate. After assembly, eat immediately, or the ice will melt (but some people actually prefer this). The less experienced will have a hard time mixing everything, which is why it is a good idea to serve this on a picnic.
Ingredients
- Prepared ube (purple yam)
- Canned or sweetened jackfruit
- Sweetened or ripe diced fresh bananas
- Ripe mango, sliced
- Cooked tapioca (perhaps soaked in brown sugar syrup)
- Sweetened garbanzo beans
- Sweetened mung beans
- Milk flan (Spanish flan, with the caramel sauce)
- Nata de coco (preserved sweet coconut)
- Rice Krispies or pounded sweetened rice
- Agar-agar gelatin (sea kelp gelatin) or firm gelatin (made with reduced liquid)
- Cream Corn or corn kernels
- Vanilla ice cream
- Sugar to taste (remember, almost all of the ingredients are sweet already)
- Evaporated milk (recommended) or 2%
- Shaved ice or crushed ice (very important)
Steps
- It is more fun to have the guests make their own halo-halo. Line the ingredients in the order that you want to serve them with their own spoons, and provide small disposable spoons for the guests who want to try the more exotic ingredients first. There is no specific method to this. Purists like arranging the ingredients according to color, but it doesn't matter. It all ends up mixed anyway.
- In a tall glass, add a teaspoon (or tablespoon) of each ingredient. It's best to put the sweeter ingredients in the middle, but there's really no science to it. Try to put as much variety as you can until the glass is half full (or half empty). Add sugar if you like.
- Scoop the ice into the glass until it comes up to the brim. You might have to pack it in with your clean hands.
- Drizzle with milk until the ice turns into the color of milk.
- Top with additional ingredients such as a slice of milk flan, a teaspoon of purple yam, and vanilla ice cream. Sprinkle with a handful of the pounded rice or Rice Krispies.
- Serve on a plate or a bowl with a flat bottom. You will need it to avoid spillage.
- Mix, mix, mix, mix, mix before you eat. Dainty hands will not work. This is a messy dish that you have to work for. Enjoy the sound of crunching ice. Eat and then mix some more. You can even mix while you chew!
Tips
- Evaporated milk is recommended because of the flavor, and because it keeps better than the 2% fresh milk (because it's canned of course). Fresh milk should work as a good substitute.
- You can also enjoy this with crushed sugar wafer cone or sugar wafer sticks.
- Remember, there's no use crying over spilled milk. Just wipe it out later.
- You need several ingredients. You don't have to have all of them, but for the ultimate halo-halo, everything is important. Most of these ingredients are available in Southeast Asian food stores.
Warnings
- Avoid acidic fruits (such as oranges or grapefruit). They will curdle the milk and some people get stomach aches a couple of hours later from the milk and acid combo.
Things You'll Need
- Ice cream scoop
- Tall glass
- Long teaspoon
- Small plate to set the glass on and serve
- Patience while mixing everything together
