Halo halo is a type of dessert is very popular in most Asian Countries-India, Burma, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines. You will notice there are many unusual ingredients. You can use any number of items/ ingredients but some are necessary.
I remember growing up in India, A hawker used to sell this and we all loved this. In Malaysia and Singapore we enjoyed this as Ice Kachang. and in Thailand it was called Namkhaeng sai. Ice kachang was originally a shaved ice served with sweetened red beans and syrup. is basically a shaved ice eaten with sweet red beans. This dessert has evolved and is served with so many different ingredients halo halo has similar ingredients and is very popular in Philippines.
Al the desserts mentioned above including Halo halo are all truly a colorful desserts which contains shaved ice, evaporated milk, some syrup, sweet beans, sweet banana, nata de coco, garbanzos, jelly, macapuno, sago, gulaman, sweet jackfruit, ube halaya( Ice Cream)and leche flan. You do not need all ingredients to make it but the shaved ice, evaporated milk and Ube needs to be there all the time. This is the fun way to do it if you want to know how to make Halo-Halo.
If you are trying this dish for the first time, you may want to us the ingredients that are easy to get.
The important items are of course, Shaved Ice, Evaporated milk, some soft and sweet fruits like Bananas, and/ or Mangoes. I do not eat beans so i do not use them, I also make Jello made from Pandan leaves- the item is called Buko Pandan available in a small box. You can add fresh coconut( shredded) or in a jar.
You can use what you like most or try it with different items .I went to a Filipino market and bought Ube-purple yam Ice Cream, Kaong, Coconut Gel, a buko Pandan-Pandan Jelly( Buko Pandan). Pandan is a green plant with ling thin leaves that gives flavor.
Some recipes use Jackfruit in a can- I did not use that
I did not want to use any kind of beans and Jackfruit which are used in Halo halo.
So I used Palm fruit-Kaong, Coconut Gel, bought Buko Pandan -mage jelly, ripe mangos, also made agar agar Saffron Jelly , sliced almonds Ube, Evaporated milk and of course shaved ice. Use your ideas and be creative-it will be fun for the family if they want to help put this wonderful dessert together.
There is no hard or fast rule. Make it your way as long as the basic ingredients are there.
Most important to gather all ingredients and serving cups/bowls ready.
You can see in the Picture that I did not use tall glass to make this dessert.
Be creative and make it your way. Please let me know if you tried it and how it turned out.
How to make Halo Halo
let's gather all ingredients we need to start a simple and colorful Dessert
all ingredients Ready?
Lets be creative and make a fantastic Dessert
arrange 8 clear short glasses or deep dessert bowls
arrange dessert serving bowls and add shaved ice -about 1/2 cup in each bowl, add the jello of your choice, and other soft items-like sliced bananas-about 4 pieces-1/4 inch sliced, add milk of your choice, add a large scoop of UBE Ice Cream. Top it with mango pieces and sliced almonds
