Each nation has its personal model of shaved ice. In Korea, there’s mountains of fluffy bingsu, its peaks spilling over with sticky pink beans. Taiwanese shaved ice comes out in ribbons and is served with boba, rice balls, and freshly reduce fruit. Japan’s ujikintoki, a kind of kakigori, is vivid inexperienced because of the addition of matcha. After which there’s halo-halo, a Filipino shaved ice sundae bursting with colours, flavors, and textures.
Though halo-halo has components which can be considerably constant, crafting the shaved ice doesn’t require strict guidelines. “I grew up within the Philippines and there’s no proper or incorrect approach of doing it,” explains Paolo Dungca, one of many cooks behind DC’s Filipino quick informal idea, Pogiboy. “It actually means mix-mix [in Tagalog]. It may be something—so long as you may have the jellies, your shaved ice, your flan, your ice cream.”
Halo-halo is stuffed with texture. There’s the crunch of ice, softened by drizzles of each evaporated and condensed milk. There’s the bounce of jellies, dyed brilliant hues. Beans—pink, mung, and even garbanzo—alongside ube halaya, soften on the tongue whereas strips of jackfruit present some chunk. A scoop of ube ice cream and flan are the cherry on high.
“Completely different elements of the Philippines [craft] halo-halo in a different way,” says Barb Batiste, the chef and proprietor of B Sweet and Big Boi. “I bear in mind folks had requested, ‘Do you not have corn in [your halo-halo]?’” Batiste’s mother, who hailed from Quezon Metropolis, by no means ready her halo-halo with corn. She did, nevertheless, instill a deep appreciation for {the summertime} treat in Batiste and taught her to by no means skimp on components.
“We’ve got like 13 various things in our halo-halo,” Batiste explains. “We type of make an enormous deal about it.”
Making halo-halo at residence
As a result of halo-halo doesn’t require strict measurements or tough strategies, making it at house is fully doable. What it does require is time spent assembling the components, shaving the ice, after which constructing the dream sundae.
“I undoubtedly suppose you may make it at residence. It takes a software or two and it additionally takes going to an Asian market—a Seafood Metropolis kind of place,” Batiste says. “My mother used to do it with a hand shaver.”
As soon as the ice has been shaved, components will be layered from backside to high in a tall sundae glass, a cup, or perhaps a large bowl. The automobile doesn’t matter as a lot because the components.
At B Candy, Batiste glazes the halo-halo in simply condensed milk as a substitute of together with evaporated milk, as a result of the remainder of the components are candy and creamy sufficient. At Pogiboy, Dungca prepares a taro milk that contributes each taste and extra purple colour. Each are layered with jellies, beans, nata de coco, and ube halaya.
Batiste makes use of ube ice cream from Magnolia—a favourite within the Philippines—to high her halo-halo, whereas Dungca prepares his personal ube ice cream. The pair make their very own flan in home; Dungca’s is inexperienced with the addition of pandan, and his halo-halo is topped with puffed rice. No halo-halo has the incorrect reply.
“If it tastes good, it tastes good,” Dungca laughs. “There’s no different method to put it.”
