Expedition To Philippines III: Surprising Desserts and Bevs

We’ve come to the end of our culinary road trip to the Philippines – like the end of a grand, exotic feast. Time to cap it off with a typically Filipino desert table and some of the island nation’s favourite sweets! And we’ll wash them down with a selection of Filipino’s favourite drinks…

Halo Ice Cream - © thespruceeats.comUbe Ice Cream: The King of Filipino Deserts!

Desserts and Sweets

Filipinos love their spicy foods fairly mild, and the rest – especially their breads – sweet. So it should come as no surprise that they adore sweet, sticky desserts! Desserts and sweets are the traditional stars of the mid-morning and mid-afternoon breaks Filipinos call Merienda.

Ube Ice Cream: This signature Filipino frozen treat, made from purple yams. The bright blueish-purple colour is amazing! And the flavour is delightfully unique… This is, hands down, the national dessert of the Philippines.

Halo-halo: A unique shaved ice ‘sundae’, built on a base of sweetened beans, coconut gel, Jackfruit and evaporated milk.

Halo-Halo - © thelittleepicurean.com

The ice is topped with a big scoop of Ube Ice Cream. The national sundae of the Philippines, for sure!

Ube Halaya: ‘Mashed’ or Jellied’ yams. This a super sweet, super creamy pudding made with cooked, puréed Ube, coconut milk, evaporated milk, condensed milk, sugar, butter, lemon juice and a dash of vanilla. The ingredients are simmered together for 45 minutes or so before jarring or freezing. It’s commonly eaten as a spread on bread; sometimes just spooned out of the jar.

Buko Pie: Coconut Cream Pie. But a typically Filipino take, using ‘fresh, young coconuts’. Ayesha Fontilla of chefspencil.com advises: “Buko pie is what Filipinos call a type of pasalubong — a Tagalog phrase meaning ‘bring something home for me’, which refers to the tradition of bringing souvenirs, often food, back home after a trip.”

Buko Pie - © angsarap.com

One of the most beloved day-to-day desserts in the islands. It’s a favourite day-to-day dessert; no special occasion required!

Leche Flan: The Filipino take on Crème Caramel. It’s heavier and sweeter than the French classic, with more egg yolks and both evaporated and condensed milk. Talk about rich!

Rice Balls: What more can we say? Filipinos love rice balls in any of dozens of variations. Among the most popular are Ginataang bilo-bilo (rice balls cooked in sweetened coconut milk), and Carioca (fried sticky rice ball with a coconut caramel sauce) (see photo, top of page).

Turon: Deep-Fried Banana Roll. This is a snack found everywhere in the Philippines. Everybody grabs one now and then, like you might grab a bagel from a street cart, or sleeve of fries.

Turon - © via Wikipedia

Some versions have both Banana and Jack Fruit in the roll. It’s usually served with a drizzle of warm Caramel Sauce.

Beverages

Fruit Wines: Filipinos would probably perish from boredom without their fruit wines! They make them from anything that’s plentiful: Strawberries, Bungays/Bingays (Blackberry flavoured), Dragonfruit, Coconut (Lambanog), and even Rice (Tapuy; called by some ‘Filipino Saké’).

Beer: The drink of the average Filipino. Consumed by just about everybody everywhere in the islands. San Miguel and Red Horse are by far the leading domestic brands. But don’t forget to explore…

Filipino Craft Beers: If you make it to the Island of Palawan, you’re in for a treat: a wide selection of small-batch craft beers characterized by their light, sweet, refreshing taste.

Filipino Craft Beer - © baconismagic.ca

Ask for ‘Palawan Wit’….

Basi: Fermented Sugar Cane juice. Locally made, fermented in special clay jars. Basing Lalaki is strong and dry tasting; Basing Babea is less alcoholic and sweeter. The signature beverage of the Ilocos and Kalinga regions.

Buko Pandan Juice: A luscious, creamy drink made from a sweet combination of pandan leaves, milk and buko (coconut).

Buko Pandan Juice - © flouredframe.com

It’s widely considered the most refreshing summer drink in the Philippines.

Fresh Fruit Juices: Filipinos will juice just about any fresh fruit they can get their hands on. National favourites include mango, pineapple and orange. Regional faves include calamansi, jackfruit or durian. Everybody drinks frui9t juice; it’s a true staple of the Islands.

Samalamig: The collective name for a category of refreshing cold beverages that cover a wide range of flavours and compositions. Many have jelly-like components. Fruit flavours predominate with fresh fruit juices as a base.

Samalamig - © foxyfolksy.com

Wikipedia has a great rundown on Samalamigs, spotlighting the dozen or so most popular types. This whole extended family of thirst quenchers is soldx at restaurants and by street vendors everywhere.

Barako: Strong Coffee. Made from the indigenous Filipino coffee bean, this beverage is THE coffee of the Philippines. It’s said a Franciscan monk brought Arabica beans to the island of Luzon around 1700. The seedlings he grew in his garden were eventually propagated around the country.

Before you go saying I left something out…

The above desserts, sweets and beverages are just a skimming of the menu items beloved by Filipinos and found all over the country.

There are lots of desserts and sweets – many that fall into the ‘street food’ category – are found everywhere in the big cities at vendor stalls and in the ubiquitous neighbourhood bakeries that provide every conceivable kind of sweet dough, stuffed or topped baked good in the Filipino national cookbook.

In the big cities, mixed cocktails are very popular, and constitute a category of their own. Filipinos also love their spirits, and a number of indigenous and imported liqueurs enjoy a large fan base of their own. There are also dozens of soft drink / soda brands available in the Philippines, and many are native to the islands.

Here’s a chance to go Googling and immerse yourself in a unique and vibrant food culture!

~ Maggie J.