The Favorite

No, this isn’t a post about the 2019 film that gave Olivia Colman her first Oscar.

This is about another favorite.

When I was living in HKG, one of my Chinese colleagues asked me what my favorite Filipino food was. After hearing the query, my mind went blank. Mainly because I didn’t have any.

Growing up, a lot of the food we were served were more Spanish than Filipino. Which could be the reason why I didn’t have a particular Filipino dish that could be considered a fave.

Eventually, it came to me. The answer to my colleagues’ question was: Ginataang Halo-Halo.

They would usually cook this at home for merienda. We were usually part of the cooking process - taking the “malagkit” and forming them into balls. And oftentimes, i’d be making cubes instead of balls.

Until now, I can never resist a good bowl of Ginataang Halo-Halo. Whether it’s from a restaurant or home cooked, i’ll never miss eating a bowl (or two).

But of course, nothing compares to homemade and home-cooked Ginataan. Just like this one:

Yup, I finished 2 bowls of this.