The Unofficial Cook

Regular readers may have noticed a little gap in the flow of postings here.  Our favorite author and the creator/owner/chief cook of this blog, Mita, is in the Philippines right now. Her internet connection has been a little ’spotty’ so this is the oft-mentioned Spouse stepping in with a little content.  Mita will be back soon, although not soon enough to suit me ;-), I miss her.
It’s windy here in Colorado and cold as a well-digger’s knee (to use one of my daddy’s favorite expressions)(actually daddy said it a little different but this is cooking and food for the whole family, so ‘knee’ will serve quite well).

It’s hot in the Philippines though and browsing through my daily reading I came upon several references to halo-halo.

(sorry, can’t get the full image to upload, I’m a klutz in WordPress as well as in the kitchen).

For those not familiar with the dish, here’s a pretty through description:

Halo halo or Halo-halo (from Tagalog halo, “mix”) is a popular Filipino dessert that is a mixture of shaved ice, milk, and sugar, to which is added various sweet beans and fruits, often topped with ice cream, and generally served cold in a tall glass.

There is no specific recipe for this dessert, and a wide variety of ingredients are used. Primary ingredients include red mung beans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, sugar palm fruit (kaong), coconut sport (macapuno), and plantains, . Other components may include jackfruit {langka), star apple, tapioca or sago, nata de coco, purple yam (ube) or sweet potato (kamote), sweetened corn kernels or pounded crushed rice (pinipig), flan or custard, and gelatin. Other fruits, such as papayas, avocados, kiwifruit, or cherries, may also be added.

Generally, condensed milk or evaporated milk are used instead of fresh milk, due to the tropical climate of the Philippines.  You can get more at answers.com .

I’m personally not a big fan of ube, but as long as the halo-halo mixer doesn’t go too overboard with the purple stuff, I like it just fine.

Here’s a place to start looking if you want to build a list of places to look for the best halo-halo … I have to do something to make me think of warmth.