What is a Halo-halo?

Yesterday I ate one of my favorite desserts. It's also one of the most popular desserts in the Philippines. The halo-halo! I was asked a million times in the past about the meaning of "halo-halo". And always when people ask me, I tell them the literal translation: "mix-mix"! The dessert is basically a mixture of a lot of ingredients! There are some variations depending on the restaurant or fast food chain. Nevertheless, they are more or less 90% similar.

I was having difficulty choosing which restaurant or fast food chain to order halo-halo from. But I ended up trying the one from Mang Inasal because it was the food chain closest to my location at that time. Can you imagine me taking out a piece of paper and a pen just to jot down the ingredients? Yes, I did that just to make sure I don't forget any. And so, here goes the relevation!

The halo-halo I ate contained a mixture of the following ingredients: (1) shaved ice, (2) evaporated milk, (3) sugar, (4) red beans, (5) white beans, (6) leche flan (caramel custard), (7) ube halaya (purple yam jam), (8) ripe jackfruit, (9) green gulaman, (10) red sago, (11) macapuno and (12) my favorite ube ice cream!

Other stores sometimes add rice crispies, corn flakes and maize. I am thinking of going to other restaurants just to compare their halo-halo ingredients! And I am actually thinking of making halo-halo at home for my grandma.

Oh! In case you ask what is the proper way to eat the halo-halo? Like most food, you don't really need to follow a strict method to eat it. But for my case, I prefer eating 3/4 of the ube ice cream. Then I eat almost 1/2 of the other ingredients until the shaved ice melts. Eat your halo-halo fast! The warm weather in the Philippines will melt your shaved ice in minutes. ;)