_02.jpg) Ube ice cream in the Philippines | |
| Alternative names | Purple yam ice cream |
|---|---|
| Type | Ice cream |
| Place of origin | The Philippines |
| Serving temperature | Cold |
Ube ice cream is aFilipinoice cream flavor prepared usingube (purple yam, not to be confused with taro/purple sweet potato) as the main ingredient. The ice cream is often used in the making of the desserthalo-halo.
Due to its vivid and vibrant violet colour and a moderately sweet and nutty taste,ube has been a staple of Filipino desserts, most notablyube halaya. The earliest recorded use of ube inice cream was in a recipe from 1922,[1] when ice cream's introduction to Filipino culture during theAmerican occupation (as the local adaptationsorbetes) led to new flavors likemango,pinipig, andmelon. The recipe called for mashed ube,milk,sugar, and crushed ice.[1] During that time, ice cream was also hand-churned in a garapinyera, a manually operatedice cream mixer.[2]
Ube ice cream[3] has risen in popularity outside the Philippines, due to its use byFilipino immigrants in restaurants (often with halo-halo) andTrader Joe's line of ube products,[4] its vivid violet color and the spread of its pictures onsocial media.[5][6][7]
Ube ice cream is a common but not essential ingredient inhalo-halo, a popular Filipino dessert consisting of a mix of various ingredients, such as coconut,sago, sweetened beans, slices of fruit such asjackfruit or mango,leche flan andnata de coco, and ube itself in halaya form. Ube is seen as an essential ingredient of halo-halo due to lending the dessert its distinctive flavor and violet color. Thus, ube ice cream may be used in place of or together with ube halaya. Sinceevaporated milk is another essential ingredient of halo-halo, using ube ice cream as well makes for a creamier recipe. On the other hand, many halo-halo recipes avoid using ube ice cream (and fruit-flavored ice cream in general) for this very reason, as the creaminess and sweetness of the ice cream may overpower or throw off the balance of the halo-halo's other ingredients, and so these versions use ube halaya instead.[8][9][10]
Media related toUbe ice cream at Wikimedia Commons
