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Home > Filipino Recipes

Halo-Halo Recipe

BY :Bebs | Published: 04/20/ 2019 | Updated:11/21/ 2019 | 9 Comments

RECIPE PRINT
5 from 5 votes
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This ultimate Filipino summer treat, Halo-halo is a sure and delicious way to cool down. With the combination of shaved ice and many different layers of sweet beans, fruits and other treats then drizzled with milk. Let us not forget the toppings, leche flan, ube halaya or even ube ice cream!

How to make Halo Halo'Halo-halo' is a Tagalog word that means mixed,  as that is what this is basically. A concoction of various sweet treats that are put together to culminate into one great cold treat. A colorful medley that is sure to cheer you up even on the hottest and most humid of days.

Eating Halo-halo brings me back to the happiest memories of hot summer days well spent with my siblings and cousins. We grew up spending the entire school summer vacations at my grandparents' house. This is also where I grew up before we moved to the city when I was 7. Most of our cousins lived in Manila, then.

I believe it was our lolo Itay's wish that his children and grandchildren stay with them once school is out and it became a family tradition. One that I am very much happy and grateful for as it created a special bond between us, cousins, that stayed even now.

It would be like more than 20 kids in one house at a time! Can you imagine all the kinds of trouble that could create? But funny enough, I do not remember anyone having a fight. We would tag-team against other kids, sure, but never against each other.

We would do everything together. Depending on your age bracket, you will be assigned a task. The older girls are the ones who prepare the meals. Others would be in charge of cleanup. The younger kids have different parts of the house to clean.  We would all play together or go for long strolls, discovering parts unknown of the barrio.

  • Halo-halo of my childhood
  • Halo-Halo Ingredients
  • How to make halo-Halo?
  • Halo Halo Recipe

Halo-halo of my childhood

We come home in the afternoon all sweaty and sticky just in time for 'merienda' (afternoon snack). Our favorite, of course, is Halo-halo from the makeshift stand of Ka Munda, our neighbor across us.  It is really just a table with a bank or two, shadowed by a tree that she put up every summer.

Her halo-halo has really just the basic of ingredients. Aside from the usual crushed ice and milk, sweet potato, plantain bananas, sago pearls, pinipig and shredded coconut meat is the usual components. You are lucky if there is ube jam available but if you come a bit late or she has not gone to the market to restock,  you'd be happy to have even just two of these things in your halo-halo. But we were content even then, especially since it was only Php5.00 a glass at that time.

When Armin came to the Philippines, I was eager for him to try Filipino food.  Obviously, I chose the best ones that I thought he would like and halo-halo was on my list. When he tried (Chowking's) halo-halo for the first time, he was very much hooked. We even bought our very own ice crusher so we can make it at home whenever we want.

Special Halo-halo Recipe

Halo-Halo Ingredients

There is really no written rule as to what ingredients you can put in halo-halo or how many. It usually varies from region to region. Usually, whatever fruits or root crops that are endemic to a location is a good candidate.

Here are some of the most common halo-halo ingredients that are used:

  • crushed or shaved ice
  • milk (fresh or evaporated)
  • sugar, if needed
  • sweetened saba or plantain bananas
  • sweetened sweet potatoes
  • fresh or sweetened langka (jack fruit)
  • sweetened garbanzos or beans
  • coconut strips or sweetened macapuno
  • sweetened red munggo
  • nata de coco (coconut gel)
  • sago or tapioca pearls or jelly cut into cubes
  • pinipig
  • leche flan (topping)
  • ube jam or ube ice cream (topping)

Halo-halo Ingredients

How to make halo-Halo?

You can either make everything from scratch or you can buy the ingredients that are usually sold in jars. Sweetened banana and sweet potato, however, have to be homemade.

You will also need an ice crusher or shaver.

  1. In a tall glass, add a teaspoon of each of your selected ingredients.
  2. Add sugar if you like.
  3. Fill the glass with shaved ice up to the brim.
  4. Drizzle with milk
  5. Add the toppings of choice.
  6. Serve with a long spoon to mix ('halo') and enjoy.

Halo Halo with sweet potato, cooking bananas, sago, chickpeas, adzuki, jackfruit, ube and leche flan

If you plan to make the ingredients all homemade, here are some of my recipes:

Ube jam made from raw purple yam, but powdered ube can also be used.

Leche Flan (the recipe is for 3 llanera but can be divided to 3 to make only 1 llanera)

Tapioca pearls. I made these for milk tea and dyed in black but you can replace the food color to red or just use uncolored ones.

Sweetened Sweet Potatoes:

  • 2 cups water
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 cups sweet potato cut into ½-inch cubes

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring water to a boil. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Add sweet potatoes and cook for a few minutes until cooked through.

Sweetened Saba or plantain banana:

  • 2 cups water
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 cups plantain banana/saba cut into ½-inch slices

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring water to a boil. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Add saba banana slices and cook for a few minutes until cooked through.

Sweetened Jackfruit: (last longer than fresh one)

  • 1 cup water
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 cup ripe jack fruit shredded into thick strips
  • In a saucepan over medium heat, bring water to a boil. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Add jack fruit strips and cook for a few minutes until tender.

The above plus some additional jarred ingredients should be enough to make at least 16 tall glasses of Halo-Halo. Transfer them into jars or containers and you can store them in the fridge for some days or longer.

Homemade Halo-Halo

Halo halo made from scratch
Print Review

Halo Halo Recipe

5 from 5 votes
The ultimate summer cold treat. Combination of shaved ice and many different layers of sweet beans, fruits, and other treats then drizzled with milk. Let us not forget the toppings, leche flan, ube halaya or even ube ice cream!
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 0 mins
Total Time: 5 mins
Course :Dessert, Drinks, Snack
Servings =1 tall glass
Print Recipe Rate this Recipe

Ingredients
 

  • 1 cup crushed or shaved ice
  • ¼ cup milk fresh or evaporated
  • 1 teaspoon sugar if needed
  • 1 teaspoon sweetened saba or plantain bananas
  • 1 teaspoon sweetened sweet potatoes
  • 1 teaspoon sweetened red munggo
  • 1 teaspoon sweetened garbanzos (chickpeas) or beans
  • 1 teaspoon fresh of sweetened langka jack fruit
  • 1 teaspoon coconut strips or sweetened macapuno
  • 1 teaspoon nata de coco coconut gel
  • 1 teaspoon sago or tapioca pearls or jelly cut into cubes
  • 1 tablespoon leche flan topping
  • 1 tablespoon ube jam or 1 scoop of ube ice cream topping

Instructions
 

  • In a tall glass, add a teaspoon of each of your selected ingredients.
  • Add sugar if you like. Personally, I find that the other ingredients are sweet enough so I do not any more sugar.
  • Fill the glass with shaved ice up to the brim. Push it down and add some more. 
  • Drizzle with milk. 
  • Add the toppings of choice.
  • Serve with a long spoon for mixing (‘halo’) and enjoy.

Nutrition

Calories: 195kcalCarbohydrates: 14gProtein: 3gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 24mgSodium: 110mgPotassium: 267mgSugar: 12gVitamin A: 800IUCalcium: 69mg
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @foxyfolksy or tag #FoxyFolksyRecipes!

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  1. Ellie says

    March 09, 2021 at 9:02 am

    5 stars
    thank you for the recipes. we love them it is good for all of us i rate 5\5 🙂 justt beacuse all of these recipes thank you so much!! 🙂

    Reply
    • Bebs says

      March 09, 2021 at 7:50 pm

      Thanks for the great review, Ellie!

      Reply
  2. HONG says

    April 27, 2020 at 4:47 pm

    5 stars
    Hi
    Thanks for your recipe of halo halo. I am Mr. HONG from South KOREA, I have stayed in Philippines for 3 months in the beginning of 2019. Then I had Halo Halo and can not forget the taste.
    Unfortunately I can not have it in here.
    So if you can, Please give me some detailed material about how to cook and especially ingredients
    to make it myself here
    Thanks

    Reply
    • Bebs says

      April 28, 2020 at 12:31 am

      Hi Mr. Hong, in this case, let's make a simpler one for you. If you can get plantain bananas, sweet potato, jackfruit (can be canned one). The instructions on how to cook them are above. You can add some tapioca balls, gelatin cubes too. Then you only need ice, milk and sugar. If you like to have some leche flan on top, here is our recipe.

      Reply
  3. Shirly Villoria says

    March 13, 2020 at 12:46 pm

    Learn more recipe and dessert

    Reply
  4. Lester Varela says

    June 24, 2019 at 7:03 pm

    5 stars
    I enjoyed reading your blog. Your story reminded me also of my childhood years when I used to buy halo-halo from our neighbor. There was one chapter in my childhood when I used to play with my friends and we always bought halo-halo. I remember that my favorite ingredient is the sweetened banana and the least that I like is the pinipig because of the slight bitterness that it tastes plus its rough texture. Now, even if it's rainy season, I still will be happy with a glass of halo-halo either from the neighborhood or from the restaurants. Thanks for sharing! 🙂

    Reply
    • Bebs says

      June 24, 2019 at 9:22 pm

      Glad you enjoyed the post Lester. You are absolutely right! Halo-halo is great to have whatever season or weather...we have ours almost every week LOL

      Reply
  5. Anonymous says

    April 26, 2019 at 7:34 pm

    5 stars
    So colorful and delicious!
    Thanks for sharing!!

    Reply
    • Bebs says

      April 26, 2019 at 8:10 pm

      You're welcome!

      Reply

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