Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month with Halo-Halo: A Culture Crew Cooking Session

Last week, our very own Culture Crew hosted a cooking session led by SourceCode Account Director Paolo Ramos, where he showed the team how to make a popular Filipino dessert in celebration of AAPI Heritage Month. The sweet treat, called Halo-Halo, is often considered the unofficial national dessert of the Philippines. It is a delightful mix of shaved ice, evaporated milk, and various sweet ingredients like ube, sweetened beans, and fruits. In addition to sharing the delicious recipe, Paolo taught us some history about the Philippines, his family roots, and his travels there. After learning more about Filipino culture and seeing some breathtaking images from Paolo’s travels, we are all in agreement that our next Camp SourceCode will need to be in the Philippines! We are so fortunate to have so many diverse backgrounds and perspectives across our team and are incredibly grateful to Paolo for sharing this delicious recipe and his culture with us.Ready to discover the flavors of Filipino cuisine? Grab your ingredients and make your own Halo-Halo at home with the recipe below!

Halo-Halo Recipe:

Ingredients:

• Ube Ice Cream
• Crushed or Shaved Ice
• Milk (Fresh or Evaporated)
• Sugar 
• Bananas 
• Canned Sweetened Jack Fruit 
• Canned Sweetened Red Beans 
• Coconut Strips
• Nata de Coco (Coconut Gel)
• Jelly cut into cubes (Gulaman preferred, but can be any flavor)
• Crispy Rice or other cereal of your choice

Instructions:

1. In a tall glass, add a teaspoon of each of your selected ingredients
2. Add a pinch of sugar (optional)
3. Fill the glass with shaved ice up to the brim
4. Drizzle with milk
5. Add the toppings of choice.
6. Mix it all together and enjoy the refreshing, sweet flavors of Halo-Halo!

Thank you, Paolo, for this amazing culinary experience. Happy AAPI Heritage Month!