When it’s summer in the Philippines, everybody thinks of halo-halo – a mixture of sweet beans, macapuno (sweet coconut meat), langka (jackfruit), pinipig (toasted and flattened glutenous rice), saba banana, sago (pearl balls) and sugar, filled with crushed ice and milk, and topped with ice cream, ube (sweet yam) and leche flan. Not me. I’ll pick saba con hielo over any other pinoy dessert on any given day. Call it whatever you like – minatamis na saging, banana with ice, saging con yelo. I just love this stuff.
It is also a sweet, refreshing and filling snack served in dad’s old carinderia. It is so easy to prepare it’s a common snack prepared by mom back home since we were kids. Of course, freshly plucked from dad’s banana trees. How fun can it get especially during hot summer days? It’s like working real hard and getting rewarded. You need shaved ice, right? Remember this kitchen tool that works like a hand planer? Pangkaskas ng yelo. When we were old enough to use one we toned few muscles for the shaved ice we need for saba con hielo. How much sweeter can it get?Too bad until now I haven’t found a single piece of saba here in Beijing or else I would be devouring a whole lot together with Cean who eats no other fruit except bananas.
This is how I remember it. Throw in whole ripe saba bananas into a pot of water with brown sugar and simmer until bananas are cooked and the syrup is thick. Serve yourself a saba or two (or three!) in a bowl, add shaved ice and evaporated milk and voila! Sarap talaga!
Photo courtesy of my friend Mike. Syempre luto nya din.
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ay naku! of course this is one of my fave too tita kais! how could i forget! thanks for the reminder at gagawan ko ang mga bagets! this one over halo-halo for me too!…
Well I usually prefer ice cream with fried bananas. Lovely!
Oh yum yum yum. I like my saba con hielo with sago also.
I totally forgot about LP11. Panic time, hehe.
oh, I had totally forgotten about this treat! Di ba may version where there is some sort of syrup drizzled over the saba? Hmmm you just mad me want to experiment again
I love this too. Hmmm, another great idea.
Miss ko na arin ang saba!
Not available here.
it’s really yummy! i ate six of those while doing the shoot because the ice was melting too fast! LOL! i also experimented on that version JMom mentioned . . . will be posting it soon!
My favorite, too. Sometimes nilalagyan ko rin ng small sago/tapioca para tuloy halo ng taho
Definitely a crowd pleaser. I just love saba bananas and treated in this manner, with lots of ice on a hot summer day, it’s perfect!
thanks for dropping by my food blog. can I add you to my links na rin? hope its ok!
maraming maraming salamat! yeah looks like everybody loves saging con yelo…
ate cha, u can add me to ur links anytime
i added u to mine.
i think nga masarap.. i will make saba con yelo at our home