Purple is a royal color. It is also a color often traditionally associated with the Christmas season for many Christians and Catholics. It must be the reason I am on a purple streak, after the puto bumbong and now this quick post on ube jaleya… I have done a post on ube jaleya before, including my recipe, as well as musing about the color of the Good Shepherd Ube jam, that one of their nuns assure me is not colored (see comments section of that post!), but I have to make this jam at least once a year so here is a post on this year’s batch. This is the peak season for the most incredibly fragrant and delicious ube from the island of Bohol. My mom waxed poetic about Boholano ube and I can see why… it is GOOD. My sister-in-law was visiting Bohol last week and brought back 3 kilos of top quality kinampay or ube and I promptly made it into jaleya. I made six disposable plastic containers worth of jam.
I have to admit that instead of using a food mill which results in a finer texture, I “cheated” and used a food processor. While the taste was the same, I am convinced that the whirling and blitzing in the food processor may have affected the texture and released more of the gluten or starches… I wouldn’t do it again and don’t recommend you take that shortcut. Do it as described in the original recipe. The taste however, was delicious and as you can see from the photos the color was brilliant. Unlike puto bumbong, I am not averse anymore to anyone adding a touch of food coloring to ube jaleya, because it can turn out quite pale otherwise. And the color doesn’t affect the taste at all, unlike in adulterated puto bumbong, where the artificial color entirely replaces the fragrant pirurutong… I will enjoy this jam over the next few days and it will remind me of my mom during the holidays. Besides eating it straight on a spoon, I love it in an over-the-top, homemade halo-halo… YUM!!!
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my lola usually add saba bananas (not fully ripen)…it makes the jaleya extra chewy..yum
I like it with suman!!!
Our superior (i live in a seminary) once received kinampay as gift. It is a wonderful gift! I’ve never tasted halayang ube so tasty in my life. You’re right, bohol’s kinampay is heavenly.
I learned from my friend here that Kinampay is a national treasure (yes, its a national treasure of the Republic of Bohol!) that it was even included in the bohol anthem. He-he.
Nice posts.
While walking around Kennedy Town market, I spotted what looked like Ube. Bought 3 kilos and made haleya on Saturday for our Christmas Party. I mashed the cooked ube and used a blender to add the milk. It took 3 hours to cook! I’m proud to say I made it all by myself! It was a hit at the party. Thanks for the recipe, Marketman.
this post brings back wonderful childhood memories. back then, no one among us cousins was willing to grind using a manual food mill, the more than 15kgs of boiled ube to be made into jaleya for the entire clan. but once the jaleya is done, we would fight over the tutong left in the kawa.
I love tamtamco’s ube from baguio city market…product claims they use pure purple ube..it’s a bit sweet though and a bit buttery but not cloying, to my taste. I still stock whenever I go up. I once attempted making ube, but it was a major disaster… no recipes, just from memory on how our help used to make it. If ever I could get hold of a Boholano ube(ready made)I would definitely line up for it.
I’m fine sticking a spoon into the ube bottle, and eating it as is. Delicious! I love anything ube!
So MM, did you add purple coloring to the ube or did you finally learn the Good Shepherd nuns’ secret to the brilliant natural purple ube jam?
Either way it looks amazing.
As a child I always referred to ube haleya as purple cake. They would serve it in a dome shape and it was the funkiest thing! No wonder the adults liked it so much..its delicious! I absolutely love this stuff. I also have a great appreciation for a delicious ube cake.. recipe or resource anyone?
Ay naku, ang sarap niyan! My mom and her assistants used to make this during the holidays, but I must admit I remember it to be too tedious to my liking. I am wishing for Santa to bring me some of those homemade yum yum this year! Preferably, one cooked by a reputable blogger…hehehe!
Just like Patty, I loooove anything ube (e.g. ice cream, cake, hopia) I just had puto ube last night. I zapped about a dozen (small) pieces in the microwave for about a minute and ate them all with generous pats of butter. Ube(r) delicious!
i can almost smell the ube from here! yummmm…
You can find purple ube in the USA in Caribbean or African markets, even Fairway on Broadway and 75th Street in NYC has it along with purple sweet potatoes, gabi and cassava.
love ube halaya!! :D
Christmas in Bohol will always have “halaya” (as we call them). I can still remember my grandma being upset way way back when she was still alive, because Christmas would soon come and still she hasn’t had the kinampay.
Halaya is always special to us. Can’t wait to eat one on Christmas.
My lola used to make this too. She’d use the rice mill and I remember that it’s difficult to do because of the consistency of the halaya.
I love love jaleyang ube with lots of rich hints of butter and virgin coconut milk. Lots of elbow grease work involved and it’s worth all the efforts from cooking the ube to final prepped work up to the last segment of the jaleya — thorough stirring throughout the cooking process. To me halo halo is not halo halo if jaleyang ube the real ones is missing. Ube tells me that Christmas is just right around the corner. Sister, thank you very much for your tip on where to get the fresh ube in the Western Hemisphere and also on Clifty ham – the best country ham I have had so far. I like it better even better than our local Chinese ham – hamon de punda! You are my Wikepidia.
How timely! I just arrived from Bohol, where we were served this delicious local treat. I admit to being a bit skeptical at first, because I do love the ube jam from Good Shepherd. But everyone I was with agreed that the kinampay was yummy.
I was amused to see ube kinampay as one of the displays in the Bohol Museum, until I read how treasured a crop it is there. Ube is so respected, that they have a superstition that if you accidentally drop it, you have to say “sorry!”
siopao, the nun’s “secret” is to peel only the thinnest outer layer of skin, leaving the hard highly purple part under than still intact. This makes for a rather purple ube, but still not as purple as hey seem to get it. The addition of just a teeny weeny bit of thick food coloring does the trick… and in this case, I have added some food coloring… :)
You do not need to use a coloring agent to get that vivid purple color MM. What I do when I drain and strain my galapong 100% pirurutong that I blended I save the precious liquid and freeze it and use in my ube for jaleya or to color my guinataan. I suspect the powdered ube they have is made out of ground pirurutong not ube because it comes out sticky as Elmer’s glue no hint of ube. Ube has a distinct taste even if I’m blindfolded I can tell the real ube from the corrupted ones.
there are some ube from batangas that has a more purplish color. i don’t know where from exactly or what the variety is. my tito used to bring home a few kilos and we usually end up with nice purple halaya, without any added food coloring.
My sister cook ube from the frozen variety here in Houston. It comes out great; but I still prefer the ones made from the fresh ones. Last summer in Quezon, while waiting to meet my cousins, they came with freshly made ube haleya and ube molded into fish that they said they bought from a vendor who was just passing by. I immediately asked my staff to find the lady and we scouter the whole market for her, but did not find her. My intention was to ask her to make a regular ube for me while staying in the province. And to ask where to get fresh ube plant. The ube haleya by the way was grrreaattttt.
Thanks for sharing MM. I would also imagine using smaller ube would make for a more vivid purple as there would be less of the non-purple part of the ube in the middle to contend with. or maybe a less cost-effective method of using only the outer layers of the ube for halaya and using the non-purple core for something else. A funky sinigang perhaps?