Teach your tot how to beat the heat by helping him make the perfect coolers–halo-halo, red rubies and ice kacang are all yummy Asian treats that folks of any age will enjoy.
Halo-halo is a traditional Filipino snack that involves a multitude of colorful ingredients and shaved ice. Here are some fun and simple ways to get started:
- Prepare shaved ice ahead of time so you avoid any kitchen accidents.
- Create a colored, illustrated grocery list with your child to help him pick out the different ingredients from the shelves–purple ube, yellow sweet bananas, white macapuno, red and green gulaman, cream-colored milk, flesh-colored pinipig, golden leche flan.
- Task him to spoon ingredients into bowls and taste test different combination–just macapuno, bananas and leche flan, a glass that has the works (all ingredients), gulaman + sago only… it all depends on your kids’ imagination!
Red Rubies is a berry colored Thai dessert that also makes use of shaved ice. Start off by boiling pieces of water-chestnuts. When ready, ask your child to sprinkle them with red food coloring and arrange them on a large bowl filled with shaved ice. To make things more fun, ask him to arrange the water-chestnuts in the shape of happy faces! Then have him lightly pour some rose syrup and evaporated milk. Make several red rubies with happy faces for each family member. It’s a surefire way to get anyone smiling!
Ice Kacang literally means “mixed ice” in English. This cold snack is popular in Malaysia and Singapore and is simple enough for you and your kid to prepare.
- Let your kid scoop shaved ice into several bowls.
- Next, line up the toppings and sauces on the table: red beans, sweet corn, cubes of agar agar, jelly, peanuts, evaporated or condensed milk and bottles of food coloring.
- Now tell your child to decorate the shaved ice however he wants to! Let him pile on the nuts, beans and corn and drizzle the milk all around!
- Mix and match food coloring to create a rainbow of a snack! This is also a wonderful opportunity to learn about the primary colors! Remember, yellow and blue creates green, red and blue creates violet and red and yellow creates orange!
