Halo-Halo: Layered Shaved Ice with Sweet Beans, Fruit, Ube and Leche Flan
Inspired by techniques from NYT Cooking and Serious Eats.
Layers of sweet bananas, tapioca, red beans and tropical fruits under fluffy shaved ice and evaporated milk, topped with ube, leche flan and ube ice cream.
Always check the labels of the products you use.
Method
- 1
Cook the bananas. Simmer the banana slices with the brown sugar and 300 ml water for 15-20 min until tender and glossy and the syrup has thickened slightly. Cool, then chill; cold fruit stops the ice melting too fast.
- 2
Boil the tapioca. Boil the pearls in plenty of water for 15-20 min, stirring often so they do not stick, until translucent with no white centre. Rinse under cold water to wash off the starch, then stir into 2 tbsp of the banana syrup.
- 3
Shave the ice. Pulse the ice in short bursts until it looks like fluffy snow rather than chips. Keep it in the freezer until you assemble; fine ice packs better and soaks up the milk.
- 4
Build the base. Divide the bananas with a spoonful of their syrup, the tapioca, red beans, kaong, nata de coco and jackfruit between the 4 glasses, so each is about a third full.
- 5
Pile on the ice. Pack the shaved ice on top up to the rim. Crown each glass with a spoonful of ube halaya, a cube of leche flan and a scoop of ube ice cream.
- 6
Pour and serve. Pour 40 ml evaporated milk down the side of each glass and serve straight away with long spoons. Mix everything together as you eat.
Storage
Serve as soon as it is assembled. The cooked bananas and tapioca keep covered in the fridge for up to 2 days.
EU nutrition claims
- Low salt: 0.24 g salt per 100 g (limit ≤ 0.3 g)
Per 100 g of the finished dish, worked out from the nutrition per serving and the lowest likely cooked weight (about 193 g a serving), so the true values are, if anything, lower. Thresholds from the Annex to EU Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. How we decide
Free sugars
45.7 g per serving
91.4 % of the 50 g daily maximum · 182.8 % of the ideal 25 g
Free sugars under 50 g a day, ideally about 25 g, based on WHO free-sugar guidance (not endorsed by WHO). The share shown is the share of one serving. WHO
Equipment
- small saucepan
- medium saucepan
- sieve
- blender, food processor or ice shaver
- 4 tall glasses (about 350 ml)
- long spoons
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 549 kcal |
| Protein | 8.9 g |
| Carbohydrate | 102.5 g |
| of which sugars | 60.8 g |
| of which free sugars | 45.7 g |
| Fat | 13.2 g |
| of which saturates | 8.1 g |
| Fibre | 2.6 g |
| Salt | 0.46 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
1.6 g High Protein needs ≥ 5 g (20% of energy)
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
