MANILA, Philippines — A halo-halo with tequila by Filipino chef Mark Singson has been featured in the new global cookbook by Japanese car brand Lexus.
The traditional Filipino dessert with a twist was featured in the second volume of "Culinary Perspectives."
“The traditional Filipino dessert Halo Halo normally contains seven or eight components including crushed ice, beans, jellies, nuts, puffed rice and much more. Halo Halo simply means 'mix mix.' For this version, I’ve simplified the components to four and looked to my home of Vancouver for inspiration,” Mark said in the cookbook.
“This recipe uses the beautiful local stone fruit of British Columbia as a garnish but during the fall months, I might use pumpkin as a garnish or whatever else inspires me from the area. If you’re in a rush, this is a perfect dessert since all ingredients can be made ahead of time,” he added.
A top chef in 2018, Mark was joined by Ricardo Sanz of Kabuki in Madrid, Nick Martinez of Intersect by Lexus in New York, Dean Fearing of the Ritz Carlton, Dallas, and many more.
According to the cookbook, below are the ingredients and procedure of Mark’s "Halo Halo My Way":
Ingredients:
For the stewed cherries:
200g fresh pitted cherries 20g brown sugar
1 pinch salt
For the Lime Tinka Granita:
4 limes, juiced and zested
1 tonka bean, roughly chopped 600g water
30g tequila
60g white sugar
For the slivered almonds:
1 tablespoon olive oil
50g slivered almonds (toasted until burnt, but not too burnt that it’s not pleasant)
Directions:
For the cherries:
Bring brown sugar and 100g water to a boil in a large pot. Add cherries bring back to boil and turn down to simmer for 10-12 min. Add a pinch of salt put aside to let cool.
For the Lime Tinka Granita:
Bring white sugar and water to a boil, turn it down after the sugar has fully dissolved. Add chopped tonka bean, turn off the heat and and let it infuse until the liquid has fully cooled down. Strain the liquid and add tequila, lime juice, zest into the cooled liquid. Make sure the liquid is cold, it will kill the freshness of the granita if you add while it’s hot.
Add cold liquid to large container that has a good surface area that fits in the freezer. The more surface area, the faster the liquid will freeze. Check the liquid every hour, as soon as it starts to freeze, scrape it with a fork. Repeat the process until all liquid has been formed into almost crushed ice/sorbet consistency. This might take three to four hours depending on your freezer.
For the garnish
Toast slivered almonds in the oven at 350F for 10-15 min until dark brown. Not so dark that it’s too bitter. You just want to maximize on the nuttiness and that gentle bitter note from almonds being toasted to darker than normal.
To serve
Scoop of vanilla ice cream in the middle of a bowl and add cherries around the ice cream and burnt almonds over the cherries. Then pour granita over the cherries and almonds surrounding the ice cream. Finishing with olive oil, adds a nice mouthfeel when cold but also adds a bitter, fruity, and nutty note to the dish to contrast with all the other components.