I LOVE the color purple. I get attracted to it, particularly when it comes to food. It is, to me, one of the most appetizing colors. I also love ube, and, well, yes, the root crop happens to be a beautiful shade of purple. So, when I saw the promotional material of 7-Eleven for its Ube Loaded Summer Treats, I knew I just had to try the Ube Fundae Halo-Halo—and I did the last time I went to pay bills and pick up some grocery items at Metro Supermarket, Shaw Center Mall, in Mandaluyong City.
After enjoying several glasses of Halo-Halo from the neighborhood stall and the fast-food restos around the area where my sister lives (my husband Raff and I are temporarily staying with her as Raff recovers from his stroke), I have been on the lookout for Halo-Halo concoctions with a twist, and 7-Eleven’s Ube Fundae Halo-Halo was one of those which caught my attention.
It is actually halayang ube that has been transformed into an icy treat, pumped out of a sundae machine straight into a paper cup. You can have it that way for Php25. But you can also get yourself a pack of Halo-Halo topping for Php20, pour it over the Ube Fundae and enjoy a different variant of the Halo-Halo we all love.
The Halo-Halo topping has langka (jackfruit), banana, beans and sago (tapioca). It is a little bit bitin because you might look for the other staples of Halo-Halo, such as gelatin cubes, nata de coco and kaong, which add not just a deeper dimension of flavor but also color to the icy treat. I did look for them, but the beautiful purple hue—and flavor!—of the sundae more than made up for it.
The Ube Fundae, without the Halo-Halo topping, can also be swirled plain and enjoyed in a cone. It is just as refreshing as an icy treat in the remaining days of the hot summer season.
Other ube treats included in 7-Eleven’s Ube Loaded Summer Treats are Ube Slurpee Donut, Ginataang Halo-Halo, Slurpee Halo-Halo and Ube Cake Wedge.
