Halo-halo

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Haluhalo or Halo-halo (Tagalog: [halu'halo?], "mixed together") is a popular Filipino dessert with a mixture of shaved ice and evaporated milk to which various ingredients are added, including boiled sweet beans, coconut, sago, gulaman (agar jelly), tubers and fruits. It is served in a tall glass or bowl.

Video Halo-halo

Description

Ingredients can vary widely, but they usually include boiled sweetened kidney beans, sweetened chickpeas, sugar palm fruit (kaong), coconut sport (macapuno), and plantains sweetened with sugar, jackfruit (langkâ), gulaman, tapioca, nata de coco, sweet potato (kamote), cheese, pounded crushed young rice (pinipig). Most of the ingredients (fruits, beans, and other sweets) are first placed inside the tall glass, followed by the shaved ice. This is then sprinkled with sugar, and topped with either (or a combination of) leche flan, purple yam (ubeng pula), or ice cream. Evaporated milk is poured into the mixture upon serving.

The spelling "halo-halo" (popularized by Chowking) is considered incorrect by the Commission on the Filipino Language, which prescribes "haluhalo".

The similar Visayan dessert binignit is also referred to as "ginataang halo-halo" in Tagalog ("halo-halo in coconut milk"), commonly shortened to "ginataan". It is made with mostly the same ingredients, although the latter is usually served hot.

Maps Halo-halo

In popular culture

Haluhalo was featured as a Quickfire Challenge dish in the seventh episode of the fourth season of the American reality television series Top Chef. The haluhalo, which featured avocado, mango, kiwi and nuts, was prepared by Filipino-American contestant Dale Talde and named as one of the top three Quickfire Challenge dishes by guest judge Johnny Iuzzini of Jean Georges. Talde also made the dish in a later episode.

Haluhalo was featured in an episode of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown when its host Anthony Bourdain visited a Jollibee branch in Los Angeles. Bourdain praised the dessert and even posted a photo of Jollibee's haluhalo on his Twitter account, which he described as "oddly beautiful."

The dessert was featured on a Delicious Destinations edition episode of Bizarre Foods.