Halayang Ube
I’m a big fan of Filipino desserts and kakanin. I make no secret about my love for leche flan, which, as I’ve said before, my “elders” were great experts at making. And being away from the people who lovingly make them for me, or stores where I can buy them from, allowed me to try and make my own. 
I’ve made leche flan several time already and I admit, I have yet to be consistent with the end result specially in caramelizing the sugar.
But this entry isn’t about leche flan. It’s about its erstwhile halo-halo partner…the halayang ube. I loooove ube, too, but it will have to take 2nd place on my list of beloved Philippine desserts. It’s obvious which takes first. 
The only ube I trust in the Philippines, are again, the ones that my aunts and uncles make. The soft, melt in your mouth, home-made kind. The other one would have to be the Ube Jam made by the nuns of the Good Shepherd Convent in Baguio. As for the rest of the ube being sold commercially, it’s more of like a hit and miss kind of thing. Some taste like sweet potato, and some taste as if the maker scrimped on milk and sugar.
I’ve never attempted to make my own ube because I knew fully well how “labor intensive” it is to make…until the last day of 2007. I couldn’t wait for a trip to the Philippines to satisfy my ube cravings. And besides, my Mom was here to help and guide me.
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The ingredients are very simple…just three: grated ube (purple yam), evaporated milk and sugar. The only ube I can get a hold of are the already frozen and grated ones available at the Asian supermarket. I got two packs, which together almost weighed 1 kilo. It had to do for this project. 
I emptied the packs of ube into a big pot (where it will be cooked) and added about 2 and 1/2 to 3 cans of evaporated milk. At first, we added about 2 cups of sugar and after giving our mixture a little taste, we decided to add another cup. Then came the exciting part…an hour or so of stirring the mixture over medium fire.
It was my Mom who started mixing it, when it was still fairly easy to do so. When the mixture started to thicken, I took over. And when it got even more challenging, I passed the “baton” to the last member of our stirring team, hubby. I prefer ube that is creamy, while my Mom preferred one that is a little tough (makunat). So if it were up to me, we would have finished stirring earlier. Hee hee.
And there goes my first ube adventure.
Desserts/Sweets/Baked Goodies | Comments (3)
