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Halo-Halo My Way by Chef Mark Singson

Ingredients

For the stewed cherries

  • 200 g fresh pitted cherries
  • 20 g brown sugar
  • A pinch of salt

For the lime tonka granita

  • 4 limes, juiced and zested
  • 1 tonka bean, roughly chopped
  • 600 g water
  • 30 g tequila
  • 60 g white sugar

For the slivered almonds

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 50 g slivered almonds (toasted until burnt, but not too burnt that it’s not pleasant)

Instructions

For the cherries

  • Bring brown sugar and 100 g water to a boil in a large pot. Add cherries, bring back to boil, and turn down to simmer for 10-12 minutes. Add pinch of salt, put aside to let cool.

For the lime tonka granita

  • Bring white sugar and water to a boil, turn it down after the sugar has fully dissolved. Add chopped tonka bean, turn off the heat, and let it infuse until the liquid has fully cooled down. Strain the liquid and add tequila, lime juice, zest into the cooled liquid. Make sure the liquid is cold; it will kill the freshness of the granita if you add while it’s hot.
  • Add cold liquid to large container that has a good surface area and fits in the freezer. The more surface area, the faster the liquid will freeze. Check the liquid every hour. As soon as it starts to freeze, scrape it with a fork. Repeat the process until all liquid has been formed into almost a crushed ice/sorbet consistency. This might take three to four hours depending on your freezer.

For the garnish

  • Toast slivered almonds in the oven at 350oF for 10-15 minutes until dark brown, but not so dark that it’s too bitter. You just want to maximize the nuttiness and that gentle bitter note from almonds being toasted to darker than normal.

To serve

  • Put a scoop of vanilla ice cream in the middle of a bowl. Add cherries around the ice cream and burnt almonds over the cherries. Then pour granita over the cherries and almonds surrounding the ice cream. Finishing with olive oil adds a nice mouthfeel when cold but also adds a bitter, fruity, and nutty note to the dish to contrast with all the other components.