Palamig (Filipino Desserts Part III)

For lack of a better definition, I kind of coined the definition above from what I personally know as ‘Palamig’. But for purposes of this hub, Palamig are Filipino desserts that can actually cool you off.

It’s just past summer here in the Philippines so why am I writing about something that is more appropriate to eat (or drink) during summer? Simple. These desserts are good all year round, rain or shine, cold or hot.

There’s no doubt about it, we, Filipinos, love our food. We especially love our desserts and we’re famous for our sweet tooth. I’ve already made two hubs about these Filipino desserts – Native Kakanins, Filipino Desserts and Native Kakanins, Filipino Desserts Part II. But I’m barely making a scratch here so I decided to write the third hub in this series.

The (cold) desserts presented in this hub are the Pinoy’s favorite (though not necessarily unique to us) and take it from me, every day is a good day to eat these delicious cold desserts.

Halo – Halo

Translated to English, this means ‘mix – mix’, and it’s literally a mixture of ingredients. You have shaved ice, evaporated milk, gulaman (or gelatine), leche flan (another delicious Filipino dessert), langka or jackfruit, saba (banana – like plantain), beans, pinipig (pounded dried rice) mais or corn, nata de coco (coconut gelatine), cherries and even ice cream. For the ice cream, it’s usually just one scoop but if you’re going for the super special halo – halo, you have to have two or more scoops.

Mais con Yelo (or Mais con Hielo)

This is very easy to make. You just need sweet corn kernels, shaved ice, evaporated milk and sugar (if you want a sweeter dessert) and voila! You have yourself a pretty cool cold dessert. If you want more variety, you can add a scoop of ice cream or saba (saba con yelo).

Black Gulaman (Grass Jelly) Cooler Drink

This is available anywhere you go in the country, in various restaurants and even in the streets. If you want to have a recipe, you can check the link provided below. You need, of course, black gulaman, vanilla extract, brown sugar and very cold water. Very simple and inexpensive to make plus you can make a lot of this and serve it during a party or dinner with your friends and family. Definitely a drink to cool you off during the hot days (and sometimes even nights).

Sundaes

Definitely not unique in the country, however, they are sure favorites for the young and the old alike. These cold desserts shot to popularity when they became part of the menu of the top two fastfood chains in the country (Jollibee and McDonald’s, respectively). They go by different names, in different varieties and during different seasons, but they’re still the sundaes we all love to eat.

Shakes

Yes, I know, these are common all over the world. But the wide variety here, well, makes you crave for more. You have the regular chocolate shake, vanilla shake, strawberry shake, mango shake, buco (young coconut) shake, watermelon shake and melon shake. Wait there’s more. There’s the durian shake, the dragonfruit shake, the guyabano (soursop) shake, carrot shake, avocado shake, jackfruit shake and a-mix-of-any-of-these shake. So next time you eat in a restaurant here, get rid of the cola and go for the shakes.

Ice Cream

How about the good old fashioned ice cream. Old fashioned eh? Not quite. Same as the shakes, we have the usual ones and the usual brands. Plus a lot, lot more. Here are just some of them (and I won’t include a picture here, you’ll have to go to the link I provided below): macapuno (a kind of coconut), ube macapuno, avocado, mandarin orange, atis (sugar apple), nangka (jackfruit), guyabano (sour sop), buco salad, fruit salad, sans rival and durian. Don’t believe me? Check out the link I provided below, you will see a lot of them.

And let’s not forget the wide variety of ice cream – based desserts out there – crepe with ice cream, banana split, ice cream slush, blizzards, blended coffee with ice cream on top, just to name a few.

So, if you’re worried about melting under the sun here, fear not. There are a lot of stuff that you can eat or drink here, cold. I’m off to find one right now.

Hope you enjoyed reading this. Ciao and cheers!