Halo-Halo

Halo-Halo

Filipino shaved ice dessert layered with sweet beans, jellies, fruit, leche flan and evaporated milk, capped with vivid purple ube ice cream. The name literally means 'mix-mix', which is exactly what you do at the table before every spoonful.

Prep

20 min

Cook

40 min

Total

60 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Medium

Recipe ingredients

• •200 g (7 oz) saba banana (ripe), sliced into rounds
• •200 g (7 oz) sweetened yellow jackfruit (langka), drained, canned or fresh-cooked
• •200 g (7 oz) sweet red beans (munggo), cooked and sweetened, see step below
• •200 g (7 oz) white beans or chickpeas (garbanzos), cooked and sweetened, cannellini work well
• •150 g (5 oz) palm sugar (muscovado) for cooking the beans, or dark brown sugar
• •150 g (5 oz) nata de coco (coconut gel), drained
• •150 g (5 oz) gelatin cubes, red and green (gulaman), firm agar jelly cubes
• •4 whole leche flan (custard), sliced, store-bought or homemade
• •4 scoops ube ice cream
• •180 ml (3/4 cup) evaporated milk, chilled
• •1.2 kg (2½ lb) crushed or shaved ice, use an ice shaver; a blender on pulse gives a coarser but acceptable texture
• •4 scoops ube halaya (purple yam jam), optional, traditional bottom layer in many stalls
• •4 tbsp pinipig (crispy rice flakes), optional topping

Steps

1. 1 Cook the beans from raw: soak 200 g dried mung beans in cold water for 4 hours, then simmer in fresh water with 150 g muscovado sugar and a pinch of salt for about 35 minutes, until tender and the syrup is thick. Cool fully before assembling. Repeat the same simmering for dried white beans/chickpeas until tender. The boiling step is essential for safety - do not skip or undercook kidney-style beans or chickpeas; simmering fully destroys lectins.
2. 2 Prepare the firm components: drain the jackfruit, slice the banana, drain the nata de coco, and cut the gelatin (gulaman) into roughly 1 cm cubes. Keep everything chilled.
3. 3 If using homemade leche flan, bake a firm custard made with 6 egg yolks, 1 can (390 g / 14 oz) condensed milk, 1 can (370 ml / 12.5 fl oz) evaporated milk, and 1 tsp vanilla at 175°C / 350°F in a water bath for about 45 minutes, until the centers are just set (internal temperature 80°C / 175°F). Chill completely, then unmold and slice.
4. 4 Shave the ice: feed ice cubes through a manual or electric shaver to get snow-fine flakes. Pack into a freezer-safe bowl and return to the freezer while you build the glasses.
5. 5 Assemble in tall glasses, layering from the bottom up: 1 tbsp ube halaya (if using), 2 tbsp sweet red beans, 2 tbsp sweet white beans/chickpeas, a few slices of banana, 2 tbsp jackfruit, a spoonful of nata de coco, and a spoonful each of red and green gulaman.
6. 6 Mound shaved ice generously over the top of each glass, packing it lightly and shaping it into a small dome about 2 cm above the rim.
7. 7 Lay 2 to 3 slices of chilled leche flan on one side of the ice, pressing them in gently.
8. 8 Pour about 3 tbsp of chilled evaporated milk over the ice of each glass so it seeps down through the layers.
9. 9 Top with a scoop of ube ice cream pressed onto the center of the ice mound. Sprinkle with pinipig if using.
10. 10 Serve immediately with a long spoon. Instruct diners to stir everything together thoroughly from the bottom up (mix-mix) before eating.