I LOVE purple yam (or what we call ube in Filipino) made into halaya (sweetened).
Way back when I was still young and living in the province, I would never, ever, pass-up any invitations on birthdays, fiestas and even weddings because I know my favorite sweets will be there, lying splendid on a buffet table – leche flan (creme caramel or custard), fruit or buco (young coconut) salad and of course halaya (sweetened purple yam).
Next to leche flan this is my absolute favorite Filipino dessert. I miss this food so much, I never get to have this as often even if I want to because ube or purple yam is hard to find or most often unavailable where I usually do my food shopping.
There is of course the powdered ube but I don’t like it that much, I’ve tried it, what I want is real, buttery purple yam.
Last week, finally, someone I asked to buy ube (purple yam) from the public market came back with.. ube, yay! I didn’t waste time, I made sweetened purple yam and cupcakes.
Both we’re delicious, but I still prefer plain, sweetened purple yam with just a touch of macapuno (coconut sport) for topping.
I learned how to cook this from an aunt (one of my mother’s sister) who is a great cook (she actually cooks better than my mom), she knows how to make most of my favorite food including this.
I watched her cook halaya (sweetened purple yam) a few times before when I was little, that’s how I learned how to make my own.
I just made little changes like I don’t add as much butter/margarine as she does and I don’t grind my ube really fine.
I find that task too tedious and time consuming, I did that the first time but the succeeding ones, I gave up, I decided I like my ube halaya a little chunky from then on.
She saw how I make it but she just shrugged and even said it taste good, well, it does ; )
This sweetened purple yam are normally eaten as is but it is also use for halo-halo and filling for pies and tarts. In Laguna, is where you can find the best ube-macapuno pies in the Philippines.
Here’s how to make Halaya or Sweetened Purple Yam in photos, recipe follows at the end..
If using fresh, wash the purple yam thoroughly; Peel and slice it into big chunks and boil until tender.
In a deep pot or saucepan, combine all the ingredients except the butter or margarine.
Stir to combine well and on medium high heat, cook until the mixture thickens.
You have to keep stirring while cooking to avoid lumps.
It will get harder to stir as it cooks, so make sure you change hands to give the other arm a work out too 🙂
Halfway through the cooking, add a tablespoon of butter. Mix well and continue cooking until it starts to pull away from the sides of the pan/pot….
and when you get some, it doesn’t fall off the spoon.
Transfer the sweetened purple yam into well-buttered dish/dishes. Add a pat of butter on top of the mixture and using the back of a spoon, level and smooth the purple yam. That’s it!
This is optional but definitely adds more yum factor: Top the purple yam with some sweetened macapuno before serving.
Purple Yam (Ube Halaya)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1½ cups Purple Yam cooked / grated
- 1 cup Evaporated Milk TRADITIONALLY COCONUT MILK
- 1 can Condensed Milk 14oz
- 1 pinch Salt
- 1 tablespoon Butter or margarine / more if needed / for smoothing the cooked yam
Instructions
- If using fresh, wash the purple yam thoroughly.
- Peel and slice it into big chunks and boil until tender.
- You may also leave the peel if you find it hard to do so and just peel it after boiling, just make sure you washed it thoroughly, remember it’s a root crop..it’s DIRTY.
- In a deep pot or saucepan, combine all the ingredients except the butter or margarine.
- Stir to combine well and on medium high heat, cook until the mixture thickens.
- You have to keep stirring while cooking to avoid lumps.
- It will get harder to stir as it cooks, so make sure you change hands to give the other arm a work out too 🙂
- Halfway through the cooking, add a tablespoon of butter.
- Mix well and continue cooking until it starts to pull away from the sides of the pan/pot and when you get some, it doesn’t fall off the spoon.
- Transfer the sweetened purple yam into well-buttered dish / dishes.
- Add a pat of butter on top of the mixture and using the back of a spoon, level and smooth the purple yam.
- That’s it!
- This is optional but definitely adds more yum factor:
- Top the purple yam with some sweetened macapuno before serving.
- Enjoy! – Olive