Ginataan Halo-Halo (Mixed Tubers in Coconut Milk)

Ginataan Halo-Halo (Mixed Tubers in Coconut Milk)

Ginataan halo-halo is a Filipino dessert, consists of mixed tubers (such as; sweet potato, taro, purple yam and cassava or tapioca), saba or plantain variety of banana, glutinous rice balls (bilo-bilo), put jack fruit and sago (tapioca pearl), cooked in coconut milk and sugar. This is very simple to cook, just prepare all the ingredients and boil them together, no special skill needed.

Ginataan is from the root word “gata” a Filipino word for coconut milk, ginataan is cooked in coconut milk, "halo-halo” refers to combination of different ingredients that were used to cook a dish. So, now you know how the dessert name was created.

During our younger years back in the Philippines, instant coconut milk is not yet available unlike today it can be found in most of the supermarkets. Back then, for us to have the coconut milk and to cook this dessert it was a hard labor, we will need to grate the matured coconut manually, using the improvised grater that is made of sharp tip metal attached to a wood that was shaped like a small stool so we can sit on it while were grating the coconut and then we will squeezed it to extract the coconut milk from it. The first extraction is the “thick” coconut milk which we called it “kakang gata”, then water will be added to the grated coconut about 1 ½ to 2 cups for second extraction which become the “thin” coconut milk or the “gata”. The thin coconut milk will be used to cook the dessert and before turning off the heat the thick coconut milk will be added.

This dessert can be served as afternoon snacks (merienda) or breakfast, hot or cold. This is one of my favorite Filipino dessert, the flavor, the soft and chewy texture especially the glutinous rice balls (my favorite ingredient) as well as the cooked coconut smell makes me eating this dish enjoyable.

When I came here in Singapore, I was surprised that our Ginataan Halo-halo has counter-part here called “Burbur Chacha”. Ingredients are the same, preparation and cooking are similar as well as the taste but the coconut soup is thinner than our, this probably it has no glutinous rice balls that makes the soup thicker. Below is how I cooked my Ginataan Halo-halo.

Ginataan Halo-Halo Recipe

Ingredients

·       1 medium size sweet potatoes (kamote), diced

·       3 small size taro roots (gabi), diced

·       1½ cups purple yam (ube), diced

·       1 small size tapioca root or cassava root (kamoteng kahoy), diced (optional)

·       3 pieces plantains (saging na saba), sliced diagonally about ½ cm thick

·       ½ cup ripe jackfruit (langka), sliced (optional)

·       ½ cup small tapioca pearls, cooked (see below for cooking instructions)

·       15 to 20 pieces glutinous rice balls (bilo-bilo),

·       1 cup granulated white sugar (or brown sugar)

·       3 cups coconut milk

·       2 cups water

·       2 pcs pandan leaves knotted (optional)

Instructions

1.   Pour water in a large cooking pot and apply heat. Let boil.

2.   Add coconut milk and pandan leaves if using, then wait until it re-boils.

3.   Put-in the tapioca root and taro roots and simmer for 5 minutes, then add the sweet potatoes, purple yam, 5 minutes.

4.   Pour-in the sugar, and glutinous rice balls then stir. Simmer for 5 minutes.

5.   Add the banana then cook for an additional 2 minutes.

6.   Put-in the jack fruit if you are using and cook for 2 minutes more.

7.   Turn off heat and put-in the cooked tapioca pearl and transfer to a serving plate.

8.   Serve either hot or cold. Share and enjoy!

Note:

1.   If purple yam is not available you can substitute with purple sweet potato.

2.   You can divide your glutinous rice dough into different portions and color them with food coloring of your choice this is just to make your Ginataan colorful. This is optional

For cooking Sago:
1) Bring a pot of water to boil. Add sago and simmer for about 10 minutes. Turn off the stove, cover the pot with lid and let the sago continue to cook on its own for about 5 minutes, until all the sago turns translucent. Run the cooked sago through a fine sieve and running water to remove excess starch.