{"id":163,"date":"2023-02-23T11:27:34","date_gmt":"2023-02-23T16:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/foodhistory\/?p=163"},"modified":"2023-02-23T11:27:38","modified_gmt":"2023-02-23T16:27:38","slug":"hello-halo-halo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/foodhistory\/2023\/02\/23\/hello-halo-halo\/","title":{"rendered":"HELLO HALO-HALO!"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/h1>\n

HELLO HALO-HALO!<\/h1>\n

Is it summer yet? No? Well\u2026 I can\u2019t wait until it is so I can try one of my favourite Filipino desserts, HALO-HALO! Like the colorful photo suggests, it\u2019s a refreshing and tasty treat that will not only quench your thirst in the blazing summer but also keep you wanting more. Say it with me: Hello Halo-Halo!<\/p>\n

Certainly, my family and I always welcome this unofficial national Filipino dessert since I grew up in the scorching Middle East and go to the tropical Philippines for vacation. Honestly, I don\u2019t remember a time if there was even a winter season during my time in the Middle East and Philippines as it was pretty much hot most of the time! All I looked forward to after school was going home, blasting my air conditioning in my room, and slurping my good ol\u2019 halo-halo. That\u2019s why I always say \u201cHello Halo-Halo\u201d as I open up the fridge and see the rich, glowing, and most colorful dessert I\u2019ve ever seen.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Image courtesy by Metro Manila: https:\/\/www.clickthecity.com\/food-drink\/article\/2270\/10-places-forrefreshing-halo-halo-in-metro-manila\/<\/p><\/div>\n

First things first, what is halo-halo even? In the Filipino language, it literally translates to \u201cmix-mix\u201d. Essentially, that is what it is \u2013 a mixture of various ingredients that emphasizes the shaved ice, sweetened beans, different fruits, jellies, and ice cream. And the best part about it is that it is very customizable! You can have many or as few items as you like, and YOU decide what toppings go on your halo-halo.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Kakigori – Image courtesy by nippon: https:\/\/www.nippon.com\/en\/guide-to-japan\/fnn20180727001\/<\/p><\/div>\n

Where did it come from? The dessert\u2019s origins are traced during the pre-war period where Japanese occupied Philippines. For the Japanese, they had what is called \u201ckakigori<\/em>\u201d which is pretty similar to the modern halo-halo \u2013 the only difference being that the halo-halo has their toppings under the shaved ice while the kakigori<\/em> has the ingredients over the ice. Anyways, the Japanese brought this dessert, as well as another earlier version of the halo-halo known as mongo kon-yelo<\/em> or mongo-ya<\/em> which consisted of only mung beans. This monggo, then, was boiled and cooked in syrup which is then served on top of crushed ice with milk and sugar. Apparently, Japanese migrants in the 1920s or 1930s brought this dessert closer to the Quinta Market of Quiapo, Manila, as it was close to the Insular Ice Plant which was built in 1902 by the Americans and it became the main ice supplier for the Philippines. This wasn\u2019t the first-time ice was introduced to the Philippines as the U.S. imported ice in the mid-19th<\/sup> century from Wenham Lake to many countries including Philippines.<\/p>\n

Over time, the Japanese occupation left, leaving the Philippines with kakigori<\/em> and mongo-ya<\/em>. Since Filipinos tend to be creative, they did what any rational foodie would do and made it their own! They included various toppings and it eventually evolved into what is now known as the modern halo-halo.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The halo-halo usually includes: sugar palms (kaong), coconut gel (nata de coco), sweetened jack fruit (langka), sweetened saba bananas, sweet potatoes (kamote), sweetened beans (garbanzos, red beans, or white beans), sweet corn kernels, gulaman, tapioca or sago pearls, young coconut (buko) or sweetened coconut sport (macapuno), evaporated or fresh milk, and ICE CREAM! (mango, vanilla, ube, avocado, you choose!)<\/p>\n

For my halo-halo, I usually only put in coconut gel, sweetened beans, sweet corn kernels, gulaman, young coconut, evaporated milk, and ube ice cream! Like I said, you can choose and customize your own halo-halo according to your liking.<\/p>\n

While halo-halo is very popular among Filipinos, shaved ice is pretty common around the world. In South Korea, it\u2019s called bingsu. In India, it\u2019s called falooda. In Italy, it\u2019s called grattechecca. And, in Japan as I\u2019ve mentioned, it\u2019s called kakigori.<\/p>\n

Did you think I would leave you guys without suggesting some good spots for shaved ice? If you guys are looking for something similar to halo-halo which is bingsu shaved ice, there\u2019s a local spot in surrey called \u201cSnowy Village\u201d. Its address is: 10090 152 St #148, Surrey, BC V3R 8X8<\/p>\n

Also, while the Jolllibee recently opened in B.C., it unfortunately doesn\u2019t sell halo-halo yet as opposed to its counterpart in the Philippines.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here are alternatives on where you can get halo-halo if y\u2019all are ever in the mood:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • O! Taho: 4223 Fraser St, Vancouver, BC V5V 4G2<\/li>\n
  • Max\u2019s Restaurant: 3546 Kingsway, Vancouver, BC V5R 5L7<\/li>\n
  • Pho Hoa Restaurant:14357 104 Ave #102, Surrey, BC V3T 1Y2<\/li>\n
  • Little Ongpin: 4093 No 5 Rd, Richmond, BC V6X 2T9<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Bibliography:<\/p>\n

    \u201cHalo-Halo.\u201d Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, February 15, 2023. https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Halo-halo.<\/p>\n

    Manalo, Lalaine. \u201cHalo-Halo.\u201d Kawaling Pinoy, November 25, 2021. https:\/\/www.kawalingpinoy.com\/halo-halo\/.<\/p>\n

    Ocampo, Ambeth R. \u201cJapanese Origins of the Philippine ‘Halo-Halo’.\u201d inquirer.net, August 31, 2012. https:\/\/opinion.inquirer.net\/35790\/japanese-origins-of-the-philippine-halo-halo#:~:text=The%20origin%20of%20halo%2Dhalo,version%20of%20the%20Japanese%20kakigori.<\/p>\n

    Valdeavilla, Ronica. \u201cHalo-Halo: Favourite Dessert of the Philippines.\u201d Culture Trip. The Culture Trip, March 13, 2018. https:\/\/theculturetrip.com\/philippines\/articles\/the-curious-history-of-halo-halo-the-philippines-favourite-dessert\/.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    HELLO HALO-HALO! Is it summer yet? No? Well\u2026 I can\u2019t wait until it is so I can try one of my favourite Filipino desserts, HALO-HALO! Like the colorful photo suggests, it\u2019s a refreshing and tasty treat that will not only quench your thirst in the blazing summer but also keep you wanting more. Say it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2521,"featured_media":162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-published"],"splot_meta":{"author":"AJ Aparato","license":"by","footer":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/foodhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/foodhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/foodhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/foodhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/foodhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/foodhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":165,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/foodhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions\/165"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/foodhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/foodhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/foodhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/foodhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}