Aug 8, 2008

Ginataang Halo-Halo

How do you eat your Ginatan? Do you, like me, start with hurriedly eating the gabi/kamoteng kahoy, then poking at the kamote, before moving on to the langka, the sago, bilo-bilo, and then finally the saba?

Really? In that save-the-best-for-last-order too? :) Saba is my super-favorite. Promise. :)


As a little girl I used to help my lola make Ginatan, and my toka, being too young to handle knives for the slicing, was to round the galapong for bilo-bilo. Back then though the bilo-bilo we had was always white.

But not anymore, thanks to the availability and affordability of food coloring. :) Here I just divided my galapong into how many colors I wanted, poured about 3 drops of food coloring to each batch, mixed and mashed the galapong to spread the coloring and voila! Colored bilo-bilo! Nice, di ba?

GINATAANG HALO-HALO

What's In It?

6 fingers saba, peeled and sliced crosswise into rings about 1/3" thick

1 piece kamote (about 300g.), peeled and cubed

1 piece gabi or kamoteng kahoy (or both, each about 300g.), peeled and cubed

langka strips (fresh or sweetened)

200 g. galapong

1 can coconut milk + 1.5 cans of water

1/2 cup washed sugar

1 t pandan essence (optional)



Kitchen Conjugations:

In a wok or small pot heat coconut milk mixed with water over medium heat. Stir constantly with left to right motions to prevent curdling.

When milk boils, add kamoteng kahoy, gabi, kamote and saba. Simmer for 7-10 minutes or until fork-tender. Add in bilo-bilo and simmer for a minute or so, or until the bilo-bilo floats to the surface (which means it is cooked). Stir in pandan essence if using.

Tastes better at room temperature, but after all that work, I bet you'd be going for a spoonful. :)

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Glossary:

1. Gabi - taro root

2. Kamoteng kahoy - cassava

3. Kamote - sweet potato

4. Langka - jack fruit

5. Sago - tapioca balls

6. Bilo-bilo - glutinous rice balls

7. Saba - plantain bananas

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh i love guinataang halo-halo!! there are times i want to eat it hot, but there i times that i eat it chilled! :D and i save the best for last too.. i eat the cassava & kamote 1st, then the langka and sago (w/ the coconut milk) leaving behind the bilo-bilo and saba... then savor every piece of the bilo-bilo and saba!! lol. yummy..

when mom makes guinataan, she puts lots of thos coz she knows even my sibling love the saba and bilo-bilo..

try the guinataan at via mare. it's good! :D

Anonymous said...

it is really nice to see a filipino food blog.
Your ginataang halo halo ingredients were really sliced bigger than the usual. so I guess that would be yummy!

I am trying my best to learn how to prepare (decent meals :-) thanks for sharing your ideas. Busby SEO challenge

KabonFootPrint

Anonymous said...

you forgot the sugar in the list of ingredients right? to make your ginatan sweet :) well thanks for posting your recipe.

anneski:) said...

No, I didn't. :) It's right there -- 1/2 cup washed sugar. :)

Anonymous said...

yeah, thank's! I'm sorry about that, maybe I overlooked the upper part list of your ingredients. this is my real favorite snacks or meal and I am really starving for this, and I wish that I could find the main ingredients w/c is the glutinous rice flour to make bilo-bilo at asian store :) thank's so much!