PHILIPPINE HALO HALO

         

HALO-HALO

        The origins of halo-halo can be traced back to Japan. Sweet dishes like mitsumame, a combination of cubed jelly, fresh fruit, and red adzuki beans, and kakigori, a shaved iced delicacy sweetened with fruit syrup and condensed milk and topped with mochi, fruit, and sweet adzuki bean paste, were brought over by thriving trade between the two countries. 

     When Japan colonized the Philippines in the late 1800s, Japanese settlers began selling a sweet invention called mong-ya, which was similar to mitsumame but included mung beans, and it became an instant hit in the metro Manila area. The delicacy was altered to Filipino tastes by adding fruit preserved in simple syrup, cubed jelly, leche flan (baked custard), and ube ice cream, and halo-halo was born. 

              Each region's variation of halo-halo features a kaleidoscope of add-ins, ranging from sago (tapioca pearls in syrup) and macapuno (coconut sport threads in syrup) to multicolored kaong (sugar palm fruit jelly). In certain regions, grated cheese, cornflakes, or polvorón, a crumbly shortbread flavored with cashews, pinipig, ube, or chocolate, are also added. Needless to say, it's a dessert that can be made in an infinite number of ways.