User:Vela.lian/Halo-halo

Article Draft

Lead Section

Haluhalo is a popular cold dessert in the Philippines made with crushed ice, evaporated or coconut milk, flavoring such as ube jam (ube halaya), sweetened kidney or garbanzo beans, coconut strips, sago, gulaman (agar), pinipig, boiled taro or soft yams in cubes, flan, slices or portions of fruit preserves, and other root crop preserves. The dessert is topped with a scoop of ube ice cream. It is prepared in a tall, clear glass and served with a long spoon. Haluhalo is the unofficial national dessert of the Philippines.

Haluhalo is more commonly spelled as "halo-halo", which means "mix-mix" in English. Haluhalo is the official spelling in the Commission on the Filipino Language's dictionary. The word is an adjective meaning "mixed [together]" in Filipino. It is a reduplication of the Filipino verb halo, which means "to mix".

In other countries, they have used Haluhalo and localized it into their own dessert, incorporating old and new ingredients.  

• Malaysia: Ais Kacang

• Korea: Bingsu

• Vietnam: Chè

• Indonesia: Es campur and Es teler

• India: Falooda

• Thailand: Namkhaeng sai and O-aew

• Taiwan: Tshuah-ping or Baobing  

(Noche)

History

The origin of the dessert is traced to the pre-war Japanese Filipinos and the Japanese kakigōri class of desserts. One of the earliest versions of the dessert was a known locally as monggo con hielo (derived from the Spanish Filipino dessert maíz con hielo) or mongo-ya, which consisted of only mung beans (Tagalog: monggo or munggo, used in place of red azuki beans from Japan), boiled and cooked in syrup (minatamis na monggo), served on top of crushed ice with milk and sugar.  

Over time, more native ingredients were added, resulting in the creation and development of the modern version. One difference between haluhalo and its Japanese ancestor is the placement of ingredients mainly under the ice instead of on top of it. The original monggo con hielo can still be found today, with similar variations using sweet corn (mais con hielo) or saba bananas (saba con hielo).  

Some authors specifically attribute haluhalo to the 1920s or 1930s Japanese migrants in the Quinta Market of Quiapo, Manila, due to its proximity to the Insular Ice Plant, Quiapo's main ice supply. The Insular Ice Plant was built in 1902 by the Americans, which became the ice supplier for the Philippines. Although the ice plant was built, it was not the first introduction of ice to the Philippines. In the mid-19th century, the United States exported ice from Wenham Lake to different countries, including India, Australia, and the Philippines.

Haluhalo is a very diverse dessert. It has a lot of different cultures mixed into it to help create the famous dessert today. The dessert has “influences from Japanese, Chinese, Spanish and American migrants arriving in the Philippines at various points in the country’s history”(Migration researcher, 2020). It is not only a popular dessert but an emblem of the country's richness and diversity of cultural heritage.

Description

There is no standard set of ingredients for the dessert as the ingredients can vary widely, but the dessert usually includes sugar palm fruit (kaong), coconut sport (macapuno), saba plantains cooked in syrup (minatamis na saging), jackfruit (langkâ), agar jellies (gulaman), tapioca pearls, nata de coco, sweet potato (kamote), sweetened beans, cheese, pounded toasted young rice (pinipig), and ice cream.

The ingredients are placed in specific positions. The fruit, beans, and other sweets are placed at the bottom, followed by shaved ice, and then topped with leche flan, ube halaya (mashed purple yam), ice cream, or any combination of the three. Evaporated or coconut milk is poured into the mixture upon serving. There are local and regional varieties of haluhalo throughout the country, which include different and/or additional ingredients than those previously listed, including sweetened wintermelon, durian, and strawberry ice cream, among others.

There's a similar Visayan dessert called binignit, which is referred to as "ginataang haluhalo" in Tagalog ("mixed [ingredients] in coconut milk") and commonly shortened to "ginataan". It uses a lot of the same ingredients, although it's usually served hot.

Popular Culture

Haluhalo was featured in season 1, episode 2 of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. The star host Anthony Bourdain visited a Jollibee branch, a Filipino fast-food restaurant, in Los Angeles. Bourdain praised the dessert and called it "oddly beautiful". He posted a photo of the dessert on his Twitter account. The show featured the dessert again in season 7, episode 1 when Bourdain learns how Filipinos make the dessert.

Haluhalo was featured as a Quickfire Challenge dish season 4, episode 7 of the American reality television series Top Chef. American contestant Dale Talde prepared the dessert, which featured avocado, mango, kiwifruit, and nuts. Talde was named one of the top three Quickfire Challenge dishes by guest judge Johnny Iuzzinni of Jean Georges. Talde also made the dish in a later episode.

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

Haluhalo is also found in Filipino restaurants all around the world such as the United States, South America, Europe, Canada and in Asian countries that has a lot of Filipino fast-food restaurants like Jollibee, Max's, Mang Inasal, and Chowking.  The emergence of these cultural restaurants attracts many customers and allows Filipinos abroad to connect with their heritage but also introduces international audiences to the richness of Filipino cuisine; “we want to take people back home; Cruiz said. "Like our atmosphere. You go inside and it makes you feel like you are in the Philippines. The smell of the food and the way we cook it in the back. It's like home”(Mena, 2019).

Environment and Regional Context

Studies portray this dessert as a representation of the Philippines’ varied natural environments alongside its colonial heritage, rather than just a dessert. In the book “Halo-halo Ecologies: The Emergent Environments behind Filipino Food,” editors Alyssa Paredes and Marvin Joseph F. Montefrio write that that the dessert links the country’s ecosystems, agricultural labor, and culinary tradition.  

The fundamental ingredients of halo-halo, such as ube, coconut, jackfruit, and bananas, are native to ecologically distinct regions, including low-lying coastal areas, high-altitude islands, interior plains, and volcanic slopes in the Philippines. Ube, for example, is native to a wide range of warm and humid areas in Bohol, as well as parts of Luzon and the Visayas region. Coconut trees and tropical fruits thrive in this warm, humid environment. This reflects how the dessert is made using locally available agricultural produce tied to the Philippines’ ecology.. Coconut trees and tropical fruits thrive in this warm, humid environment. This reflects how the dessert is made using locally available agricultural produce tied to the Philippines’ ecology.

Additional ingredients such as sugar, evaporated milk, and ice were incorporated into halo-halo due to a combination of historical, colonial, and industrial factors. Sugar plantations expanded during the Spanish and American colonization periods, which increased the production and accessibility of sugar. Evaporated and recombined milk also became more prevalent in the Philippines during the 20th century because of industrialization, the importation of milk, and technological advancements in the dairy industry. Industrialization impacted the environment through the increase of pastureland, the introduction of non-native livestock and plant species, and the application of agricultural chemicals used to boost production. These environmental and historical influences make it a product of both the Philippines’ natural diversity and the ecological changes of colonialism and industrialization.. Industrialization impacted the environment through the increase of pastureland, the introduction of non-native livestock and plant species, and the application of agricultural chemicals used to boost production. These environmental and historical influences make it a product of both the Philippines’ natural diversity and the ecological changes of colonialism and industrialization.

References

Noche, J. “The Origin of the Halo-Halo Dessert.” The Origin Of the Halo-Halo Dessert. https://www.kollectivehustle.com/blog/the-origin-of-the-halo-halo-dessert.

Migration researcher - writer - policy analyst. (2020, February 24). Mixing it up in the Philippines: The story of halo-halo. Ese ne tekrema. https://ese-netekrema.community/2020/02/23/mixing-it-up-in-the-philippines-the-story-of-halo-halo

Mena, Bryan. (2019, November 12). “The Prospector” The Prospector, ScholarWorks, scholarworks.utep.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1362&context=prospector.