Anatomy of a Recipe: Ginataang Halo Halo

I yam what I yam - everything tuber at Columbus's
Saraga International Market on Morse Road

Any typical Christmas, we would be in California with my relatives enjoying a number of treats, most of them of Filipino origin.  With the pandemic short-circuiting travel plans, we spent our first holiday together back here in the Buckeye State, where we figured we might as well use the opportunity to start a few new traditions.  Most of the food we had wasn't Filipino in origin, but we made sure to have a few things around (namely, Toblerone Chocolate Bars, which is considered a spendy sweet treat for the average family, and Polvoron Candies, produced here by local baker Uncle Giant) to remind us of California.

Even with that, I thought about what food item I'd be typically find at my family's meal gathering that 1) I couldn't get easily here and 2) whose taste I missed the most.  After much deliberation, I thought of Ginataang Halo Halo (something my family nicknamed Bol Bol), a sweet dessert stew of coconut milk and assorted tubers and fruit, glutinous rice balls, and sago pearls.  

But unlike the Pandesal I had made last, I did not have a written family recipe to lean on (all the recipe information is embedded in the minds of various relatives.)  Thus, I would need to do my research on the Interwebs and take a swing with one of the recipes I found.

(My nod to folks who just want to get the recipe: scroll to the end of the next few paragraphs to the "More" jump and you'll get to the directions directly.  However, like the pandesal, there were a few things I encountered that you might want to consider in making your own version of this dish.)

Glutinous Rice Flour Balls ready to boil, with
Ube, Langka, and Pandan extracts to add some color

In some ways, Filipino cuisine can be likened to one of those bowl places that are commonplace, where you start with a base and customize the way you want.  The big difference in this case is the customizing is based on what's available in the region - even Adobo (considered by many to the national dish), which has soy sauce, vinegar, bay leaves and peppercorns at its base, can be modified with a number of proteins (pork, chicken, squid, etc.), additional spices (Yellow Adobo involves the very tasty addition of turmeric, for example) or enhancements such as coconut milk.

As it turns out, Ginataang Halo Halo (also known as Ginataang Bilo Bilo and Binignit, among other names) is equally customizable, with a number of tubers (sweet potato or camote, taro, purple yam are common), bananas (typically saba bananas in the Philippines, but various other plantains will work too), jackfruit, and sago pearls as common ingredients. For this first attempt ever, I stayed local and traveled to Saraga International Market to up some purple yams, sweet potatoes, taro, and two different kinds of plantains. My spouse had helped me out earlier by picking up the other needed ingredients (coconut milk, langka, and sago pearls.)

Was going to go with the typical Horn Plantains, but I threw
in some Hawaiian Plantains to mix things up

As I learned on this first-time ever attempt, preparing and cooking this dessert is done in several distinct stages. The tubers and the fruit (save for the langka) were a simple matter of peeling and dicing into medium-sized cubes.  The dough making and then rolling the glutinous rice balls is also relatively simple, but might be the most lengthy process.  Preparing the sago pearls is also very simple, but as you'll find out, this segment offers up a good time to get in a short break before the grand finale.

After much debate, I decided on the Foxy Folksy version of Ginataang Bilo Bilo, but as you will see, I ended up deviating a bit based on the ingredients I bought.

Preview Event: Cocktails & Pulutan - Bonifacio Restaurant

I admit to a little bit of culture shock moving from the Bay Area to Central Ohio when it came to population makeup: I basically moved from an city where nearly 25,000 people were of Filipino heritage to a whole region where there were 2,500 or so scattered around.

Not surprisingly, Filipino food has been a little harder to find in the wild here. I learned shortly after my arrival of a Filipino restaurant near the Columbus/Reynoldsburg border in Chuchay's, but their location wasn't the most convenient to where I was living and the eatery shut down soon afterward. Other encounters have been rare but very welcome: the original Red Velvet Cafe in Reynoldsburg, and two food trucks in the form of Mya's Fried Chicken (courtesy of special pop-up events by owner Mark Tolentino) and, more recently, Asian Persuasion.

Perhaps the most welcome addition for me (and many other area diners) has been the downtown Columbus branch of the previously mentioned Red Velvet Cafe. Owned by Krizzia Yanga, the cafe not only brought the very appealing original cupcake/coffee pairing that fueled the original location for so long, but also brought local diners a taste of Filipino cuisine with their weekend brunch service.

Ice Cream Questing (Year 3): Dog is my Co-Pilot (Shojimoto, Arlington, TX)

"Go ahead, take your time,"  the elderly woman manning the counter behind me advised between chattering in Tagalog (the national language of the Philippines) with a colleague over the cell phone.

With that scene, I was reminded I was on Filipino time, a state where punctuality isn't necessarily expected nor even desired. Indeed, this was a good thing, as I was contemplating an important decision in the flavors of my ice cream selections.

A drive on Texas State Highway 360 through Arlington will give you a good view of the three grandiose attractions (the two stadiums in which the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers play, plus the home of the original Six Flags amusement park) within the borders of this city of roughly 380,000 people.

However, if you wander closer into the downtown portion of the city, the college scene takes over as the campus of UT-Arlington dominates much of the area. For Ohio State Buckeye sports fans who are thinking this college sounds semi-familiar, it was the UT-Arlington Mustangs who broke the 61-game Buckeyes' Men's Basketball team's 61-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents.

The Ice Cream Chronicles (Vol. 11): The Tale of Two Mitchell's (San Francisco, CA/Cleveland, OH)

It may have been the ninth store built, but the Ohio City neighborhood
location of Mitchell's Ice Cream, located in an old theater, has quickly
ascended to be the flagship store of this Cleveland-area business.

The recent spate of summer-styled weather reminded me it was about time to revive a mini-segment of posts that kind of took a life of their own last year. This season's first candidate is one I know by name, but is really two entities. One of those I grew up with as a kid, while the other I first sighted late last year on a visit to Northeast Ohio. This shared name, in fact, has become the source of some unknowing mis-identification by numerous Twitter users trying to rave over ice cream they were tasting from these two same-named entities on social media.

Despite the confusion, I already knew one was a longtime favorite, while one was I heard great things about. So why not a double post about the ice cream known as Mitchell's?

For me as a kid, Mitchell's Ice Cream was something that my grandpa would bring home as a treat for me and my siblings on a regular basis, and no matter what the flavor, it was devoured in short order. This particular Mitchell's, now a Bay Area institution, was opened up in the 1950s sporting 19 fairly standard flavors and an old-school ice cream with a distinct mouth-coating texture (due to its high butterfat content.) These days, however, it is the tropical and Filipino-styled favors like Halo Halo, Ube and Buko that provide as much if not more of a draw for ice cream lovers than the more traditional flavors. In fact, this ice creamery was the first in the Bay Area to introduce Mango as an ice cream flavor; this proved to be an instant hit and remains the store's most popular flavor.

Their small, cramped storefront on San Jose Avenue, located at the merge of the San Francisco's Mission District and Noe Valley neighborhoods, typically has lines out the door, with a "take-a-number" system for those wanting to purchase cones, bowls and other ice cream and frozen confections. Thankfully, the store keeps one cash register open specifically for those who want to pick up pre-packed half-gallon tubs from their freezers, so customers (and there are many) can get in and out in fairly quick amount of time. Mitchell's ice cream is also served by the scoop by a select number of scoop shops/restaurants; a number of grocery stores also sell the pre-packed half-gallon tubs.

There is a distinct lack of parking close to the store (the store's small parking lot in the back is often full); for auto-bound customers, it helps to have a "partner in crime" to get into line while the other tries to park the car. Tourists who want to pay Mitchell's a visit may be best served by taking public transit and walking a few blocks over to their shop, or even taking a taxi for a visit.

Mitchell's (San Francisco) offers old-school ice cream with a tropical
twist, including this combo of Ube (purple yam) and Lucuma, a fruit
from the South America Andes Mountain regions.

Here in Ohio, Mitchell's is a Cleveland-area institution that started in 1999 with a focus on the use of local and/or sustainably-produced ingredients. Their current flagship location, which I had the chance to visit, is actually the company's ninth store, but it's easy to see early why their parlor at the former Rialto Theater in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood has ascended to the prime spot for a visit.

It's quite easy to picture the trappings of an old-time structure when you look
 Mitchell's (Cleveland) expansive and remade main parlor area.

The main parlor space is clean and expansive with lots of seating; it's easy to picture the counter that now holds ice cream-filled cases being a concession stand for the old theater. If you look carefully behind the servers, you'll find that the journey is just beginning; glass windows give a hint of the production facility located behind the parlor area. Customers can scoot on over to the back to get a closer look: not only will you find more seating but get a closer look at the employees and the myriad of ice cream production equipment. A stairway to the second level allows you to glance down from overhead into the area; it reminded me a bit of the experience we had taking the Jelly Belly Factory Tour in Fairfield, California.

Mitchell's (Ohio) ice cream production from the side and above; plus
but a small sample of the works of art found throughout the building.

Mitchell's Ohio seems to stay in the wheel of traditional flavors sprinkled with some more novel seasonal offerings. In similar fashion to last year ice cream samplings, I grabbed a trio of scoops, including my traditional pick of butter pecan, plus something simple (strawberry) and a seasonal (their Great Lakes Brewing Porter Chocolate Chip.)

With the small batch production, the texture of Mitchell's ice creams fall between Jeni's and a more commercial-styled ice cream like Velvet. Of the three, I enjoyed the perfect blend of tart and sweet that the strawberry gave me. Their take on Butter Pecan was also quite nice, with hints of butterscotch and sea salt adding some complexity. I didn't quite get as much of a porter taste profile as I would've liked with the GLBC ice cream; however, I did love the irregularly-chunked dark chocolate chips. It reminded quite a bit of the wildly-sized chocolate chunks you get in Graeter's french pot processed ice creams that feature chocolate chips.

Both Mitchell's Ice Cream franchises are basically area-only enterprises; for anyone visiting either the San Francisco or Cleveland areas, these same-named (but not the same company) ice cream makers are well worth the stop.

And yes, there is also a Mitchell's Ice Cream (not the same as either) in Chicago as well. I'm thinking I'm going to have to make it a trifecta one of these days, right?

Mitchell's Ice Cream - San Francisco
688 San Jose Ave (Bernal Heights)
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 648-2300
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Mitchell's Ice Cream -  Cleveland
1867 W 25th St (Ohio City)
Cleveland, OH 44113
(216) 861-2799
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Short and Sweet: Red Velvet Cafe and The Early Bird

Here's a couplet of quick summaries detailing one soon-to-be-opened eatery and a food truck returning to the fold:

Red Velvet Cafe: At last year's Asian Festival, I learned about a food eatery of some sort in Pickerington which was the first one in the area opened up by Filipino-American owners. Pickerington in not a place I ever had much chance to frequent, so that bit of information went unexplored until now, as their second location is set to open up in Downtown Columbus.

Currently in soft opening phase, Red Velvet Cafe is located in a part of South 4th Street that has developed into a flourishing destination spot with current tenants 16-Bit Bar Arcade, Dirty Frank's and Little Palace; popular pizza maker Mikey's Late Night Slice is set to join the fray later this spring. This particular branch is owned and operated by Krizzia Yanga, daughter of owners Reuel and Lida Cruz of Red Velvet's Pickerington location.

From top left: Red Velvet's ube (purple yam) cupcake, their menu of
mostly Filipino-influenced sandwiches, artwork along their interior
brick walls, and the store's owners grabbing my sweet treat

Red Velvet has earned a reputation for its tasty cupcakes, with familiar gourmet flavors like salted caramel, black forest and maple bacon. However, on this visit I was hoping for, and yes, they came through with an ube (purple yam) cupcake. This distinctly Filipino creation was enjoyed very much by my spouse and I later that day.

Their panini sandwiches are quite intriguing to me, hearkening back to my younger days with their protein options like chicken adobo (chicken stewed in vinegar and soy sauce), lechon paksiw (roasted pig stewed in vinegar) and bistek (typically sliced beef cooked in soy sauce and lemon juice with carmelized onions.) While I did not have one on this quick visit in, this will be on the definite to-try list on future visits.

The brick-walled interior is nicely attired with artwork and other decor that should prove to be an inviting place to kick back and hang out inside with one of their multitude of coffee drink options. Indeed, the cafe has the capacity with all the right equipment and a solid coffee source (locally-based Impero Coffee) to brew some solid drinks.  With the "hot" weather (compared to February's weather, 60 degrees is a virtual heatwave right now) I ordered up a very nicely done Vietnamese Iced Coffee, made up in a traditional stainless steel filter. Bubble tea, a very familiar sight back in California, is also available here for downtown-area patrons.

Red Velvet Cafe's official grand opening is set for this Saturday, March 14th at 11 AM.

Red Velvet Cafe
246 S. 4th Street (Downtown)
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 636-3967
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The Early Bird has risen again with the promised warmer weather

The Early Bird: Ohio's winters are tough on mobile food businesses, and unfortunately it proved to rather tough for owner Libby Glover's rig and equipment. Temperatures below twenty degrees would force a closure of the food trailer for the day, and Glover herself took a winter break the last week of January. This turned out to be a timely move in hindsight considering that the Central Ohio region was hit with one of the colder months of February in recent memory.

However, good news is here for all you beignet lovers: Glover recently announced on her Facebook page that the Early Bird will be up and running again starting Monday, March 16th, promising some spring-inspired flavors to join some old beignet favorites to order with quality coffee (the Early Bird uses coffee beans from One Line Coffee.)

The Early Bird can be found parked in front of the Indianola Church of Christ, located on Indianola Avenue just north of Lane Avenue.

My initial Early Bird post can be found here.

The Early Bird
2141 Indianola Ave (North Campus)
Columbus, OH 43201
(614) 715-0906
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